Highway 61 Blues Museum — Leland, Mississippi

The Highway 61 Blues Museum at 307 North Broad Street in Leland, Mississippi, documents the blues heritage of the Washington County Delta — the area along and around Highway 61 between Greenville and Greenwood that produced Jimmy Reed, Little Milton, and numerous other significant blues figures. Leland is also notable as the birthplace of Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, making the small Delta town an unlikely home to two distinct streams of American popular culture. The museum presents the blues history of the area through photographs, instruments, and artefacts in a converted storefront in Leland's historic downtown.

Jimmy Reed, born in Dunleith near Leland in 1925, was one of the most commercially successful blues artists of the 1950s and early 1960s — his shuffling, deceptively simple style, featuring his wife Mary Lee 'Mama' Reed often whispering lyrics in his ear during recordings, produced a string of hits on Vee-Jay Records including 'Honest I Do,' 'Baby What You Want Me to Do,' and 'Big Boss Man.' Little Milton — Milton Campbell — was born in Inverness, a few miles from Leland, and had a long career in soul blues. The surrounding Washington County Delta produced a disproportionate amount of blues talent relative to its small population.

The Highway 61 Blues Museum is open on a seasonal schedule and is best confirmed by phone before visiting. Leland is on Highway 61 approximately 10 miles east of Greenville, the largest city in the Delta. The museum functions as a community heritage centre as well as a tourist attraction, and the volunteers who run it typically have deep personal connections to the music and musicians documented within. The Jim Henson Muppet Museum is also in Leland, on the opposite side of town.