Barrett Ridge, Mississippi Explained

Official Name:Barrett Ridge, Mississippi
Pushpin Map:Mississippi#USA
Pushpin Label:Barrett Ridge
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Mississippi
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Lee
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation M:112
Elevation Ft:367
Coordinates:34.4186°N -88.7028°W
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:677256

Barrett Ridge is an unincorporated community located in Lee County, Mississippi. It is just north of the town of Saltillo off U.S. Highway 45.

History

Barrett Ridge was founded in 1858 by Edmond Barrett. He was an Irish Catholic immigrant who left Ireland in 1848, during the great famine. The community was centered around the St. Thomas Aquinas, which burned in 2009.[1]

Edmond (Ned) and one of his sisters, Briget, joined other immigrants fleeing the Great Famine and went to America in search of a way to provide for their family. On the way over, Briget fell from the boat while sleepwalking and drowned. Ned worked hard when he got to America and sent money home to the family in Ireland. He worked his way south and then moved westward into Mississippi in 1852. Ned married Mary Vina Warren on December 29, 1858 and they settled into a log cabin on a gentle rolling hill near Saltillo. On March 10, 1866 Edmond (Ned) Barrett had made enough money to purchase that land, which became known as Barrett Ridge. Ned and Mary had 11 children, whom they raised in the log cabin on Barrett Ridge. Most of them established homes there and raised their own children on the Ridge.

The Ridge is located 10 miles north of Tupelo and 4 miles northwest of Saltillo in Lee County and now consists of descendants of Edmond Barrett: the Barrett, Larkin, Bishop, Poppelreiter, Greenwood, Gusmus, Long, and Brown families and more.

The descendants of Edmond's siblings still live in Boola, Bweeng, Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, where Ned lived before he left for America.

Notes and References

  1. News: Holley . Galen . Irish community in Barrett Ridge remains strong . 25 April 2020 . Daily Journal . 17 March 2010.