Factory Road

The Factory road led to the Factory (trading post) near Fort Confederation (formerly Fort Tombecbe, French Period) on the Tombigbee River which allowed Choctaw intercourse with the United States Factory from the Robinson Road in Leake County and beyond. The road also extended east into Sumter County Alabama. Note in Figure 1 the road ran roughly east-west through Sumter County Alabama, Kemper, Neshoba and Leake Counties in Mississippi. The road was built over earlier Choctaw paths which traversed the French Western and French Eastern Period villages (See FIGURES: VILLAGE LOCATIONS Figure 2). Most of the United States original surveyors' noted the road as a "waggon" road, i.e. a wider terrain conduit than a path. The Choctaw path(s) was widened about 1815 following the end of the Creek Wars when the Factory moved from St. Stephens, Alabama.

The road length in Mississippi was roughly 98 miles. It included a Leake County Pearl River ferry crossing called "Boyd's Ferry" in Township T10N R8E Section 9. There was a second Pearl River crossing in Leake County Township T11N R9E Section 28. Recall in Musing 2 there were a large number of CIP in Leake County most of which were north of the Pearl River.

The Factory road was called various names by the United States surveyors: "Bigby Road", "Robinson Road to Factory", "waggon Road", "old factory road", and "road leading from the factory to Robinson Road." In short, there was not a common name shared by the surveyors.

As intended, the Factory road had a short life. In 1821 the Robinson Road was constructed, that connected Natchez and Jackson to Columbus through Oktibbeha County. In 1822 Robinson Road became the official mail route for the United States. About 1824 the Choctaw trading house and the new Choctaw Agency relocated to T17N R15E Oktibbeha County. Thus, in the mid 1820s, the road's purpose transitioned from Choctaw access to the Factory near old Fort Confederation to a conduit for land speculators and settlers from points east, primarily Georgia and the Carolinas.