Tourism about to hit its stride
If ever there were a year for Attala County and Kosciusko to step forward confidently into the light, this is it. Tourism here should not merely hum along in 2026 — it should pop.
The timing alone argues the case. The nation is marking the 250th anniversary of its founding — a moment of reflection on the great American story. Attala County is not a county that must search to find its place in that story. The stories are all layered here directly.
Kosciusko carries the name of Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Polish military engineer who fortified West Point, served the Continental Army with distinction and was promoted to brigadier general by the Continental Congress in 1783. That name on the water tower is not decorative. It is declarative.
Before railroads and paved roads, Andrew Jackson after moving up red clay paths camped in what is now Attala County as he marched south to confront the British in the War of 1812. The Civil War, Reconstruction, the long and often painful civil rights era — each left its mark here. Attala County has never been a bystander to American history. It has lived it.
The 250th anniversary offers more than pageantry. It offers a frame — a chance to tell the story deliberately and well.
That opportunity arrives just as tourism responsibilities have shifted to the Kosciusko-Attala Partnership, following approval of a tourism services contract by the Kosciusko Board of Aldermen. The agreement brings a more focused and professionalized effort to attract visitors.
This is strategic planning.
Under the leadership of Mary Katherine Dean, the immediate goal is refreshingly practical: restore full operations at the visitor center, rebuild its volunteer base and ensure that when travelers arrive, someone knowledgeable and enthusiastic is there to greet them.
Even with limited hours, the center recorded roughly 1,400 visitors in the fourth quarter of 2025. That is not a statistic to dismiss. It is a hint of what is possible.
Tourism does not thrive on slogans. It thrives on experience. A staffed visitor center can direct a family to lunch on the square, an afternoon at a museum and a walk-through neighborhoods rich with story. It can convert a brief stop into a lingering stay. It can turn a passing motorist into a returning guest.
And then there is framed and focused spotlight on art.
From March 20 through June 14, 2026, L.V. Hull: Love Is a Sensation will present the first major museum exhibition devoted to the life and work of L.V. Hull. Born in McAdams, Hull transformed her Kosciusko home into a vibrant, immersive art environment — an explosion of found objects, painted signs and her signature dot patterns. She called herself an “Unusual Artist.”
This is a cultural event — one that affirms that creativity in Attala County has always been as distinctive as its history and will bring in first time visitors and a chance to capitalize on the momentum.
History, heritage and art converge this year. Add to that the festivals around the square, the Christmas lights that already draw steady crowds and the everyday charm of a walkable downtown, and the ingredients are plainly visible.
What remains is execution. Most of all, it requires a community that believes its own story is worth telling.
In 1776, Kościuszko crossed an ocean to join a fledgling republic. Two and a half centuries later, the republic is older, more complicated and still unfinished. But its story continues — and in places like Attala County, that story can be seen in courthouse bricks, in civil rights memory, in fields once traversed by soldiers and in the unlikely brilliance of an artist who adorned her porch with dots and devotion.
Tourism is not about traffic counts. It is about identity.
This year, the nation will be looking backward and forward at once. Attala County should make sure that when it looks our way, it finds the lights on, the doors open and someone ready to say, “Welcome. Let us show you who we are.”
Register to vote and vote.
Editor’s note: Joseph McCain is the publisher of The Star-Herald. He has worked in the newspaper industry for over 30 years and may be reached at 662-803-5236 or 662-289-2251 or email news1@starherald.net.
