In November 1887, the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham Railroad
(KCM&B)--later the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad, or
Frisco--established a new town as a halfway point on its route between
Memphis and Birmingham. The town was named Amory in honor of Harcourt
Amory, a prominent Bostonian and railroad executive. The 500 acres the
railroad purchased from Amanda Owen were surveyed and drawn into plots
parallel to the railroad tracks, creating Mississippi's first planned
community. Amory prospered as men like E.D. Gilmore and Archibald
Dalrymple moved to town and opened up shop. Businesses and homes from
nearby Cotton Gin Port on the Tombigbee River were moved to Amory to be
part of the growing town. The garment industry played a vital part in
Amory's development, as the Glenn and Longenecker families established
factories that made the town known as the Pants Capital of the World.
Today, the community is home to a regional medical center, top-rated
schools, and a diverse mixture of retail and industrial businesses.