HISTORY CORNER

THE VILLAGE TOO SMALL TO HAVE A BIG NAME

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

This village, located 11 miles west of Centerville in Hickman County, lies at an elevation of 550 feet in the fertile Duck River Valley. It received its name in 1815 when a landowner, Hugh McCabe, who owned hundreds of acres, gave a quarter of an acre for a church and school. The church authorities thought that the piece of donated land was too small to have “a big name” so they named the village Littlelot.

Littlelot had, in 1876, a population of between 40 and 50. In the village there was a general store, cotton-gin, saw and grist mills and a blacksmith shop. The Methodists and Christians had churches and the Masonic Fraternity had a lodge. There was also a school, Green Wood Academy.

In 1918, Littlelot was described as being in “the hog and hominy” part of the state near the Duck River. The article went on to say the area had “beautiful scenery and everything to make one feel free that he will not want to leave. No better people on earth.”

There was a Littlelot Normal School of Music in the village in 1918. Board could be had in the best homes in the village for from $3.50 to $4 per week. Tuition for the 20-week course was $3 for children over 15 years of age and $2 for those under 15. The school’s president was C. B. Wilson.