It’s always interesting to me to find how interconnected history can be. I never thought in a million years when I pulled into tiny Iuka, Mississippi that I would end up stumbling into the summer home of Colonel Robert C. Brinkley, the builder of the famed Peabody Hotel in Memphis. I found it even more interesting that it was this house which served as the headquarters of Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. This story sent me down a lot of rabbit holes, but I found the whole thing really fascinating.
Robert C. Brinkley, or “R.C.” as he was known, was born in Chatham County, North Carolina in 1816. He studied law at the Bingham School in North Carolina and moved to Tennessee when he was 20 and went to work as an attorney. Two years later, he married Ann Overton and they would have two children together. When Ann passed away in 1845, R.C. left his law practice and started focusing on real estate. He went on to become the president of the Memphis branch of Planters Bank, and began selling stock in the Memphis to Charleston Railroad.
It was during this time that R.C. traveled to London to try and raise money to purchase the rails necessary to complete this line. There, he met and befriended banker and financier George Peabody (whose finance business would be renamed J.P. Morgan after his death…
The tiny town of Iuka, Mississippi (population 3,000) was founded by David Hubbard in 1857 along the route of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Built on the sight of an old Chickasaw Indian village, the town takes its name from one of the chiefs of that village, Chief Ish-ta-ki-yu-ka-tubbe . Iuka (pronounced “aye-you-ka”) was the site of the Battle of Iuka during the Civil War, an engagement between Union General Rosecrans’ Army of the Mississippi and Confederate General Sterling Price’s Confederate Army of the West. The battle resulted in over 2300 casualties before Price withdrew his troops and marched on to join General Van Dorn in the 2nd Battle of Corinth. The Brinkley House, also called Dunrobin, was used as General Grant’s Headquarters during the battle, and is a really cool antebellum home.
Today, Iuka is a charming little town with a cute downtown area and a wonderful park. The park’s centerpiece is the Iuka Mineral Springs, where natural spring water flows for all to enjoy. I really liked this park for some reason and enjoyed taking photos of the old playground equipment which reminded me of the things I played on when I was a kid. Iuka has a beautiful War Memorial and a history museum in their old courthouse which was sadly closed during my visit. There were also several beautiful churches and some neat looking shops. Much like my visit to Corinth, short days and cold weather kept me from exploring too far afield, but I thought Iuka was an adorable little town and that these photos would give you a feel for my visit.
