Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market

The ruins of Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market are on Money Road in Money, Mississippi.

The site's exact coordinates are listed in the Address section below.

The store's remnants are a significant civil rights landmark, as this is where Emmett Till, an African American teenager who was later lynched, allegedly wolf-whistled at a white woman.

The structure is now in disrepair. The front porch collapsed in the 1990s, and Hurricane Katrina destroyed the roof in 2005. Today, the crumbling walls are covered in thick vegetation.

Incident

The site's tragic history began in August 1955, when Till left Chicago to visit his great-uncle's home in Money. The 14-year-old was unfamiliar with the racial climate of rural Mississippi.

To him, the Deep South and its archaic Jim Crow laws seemed foreign.

On the evening of August 24, 1955, Till accompanied his cousins and some local boys to Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market to purchase candy. At the time, the store was owned by Roy Bryant, 24, and his wife Carolyn, 21.

When the group entered, Carolyn was managing the front of the market alone. Her sister-in-law was in the back watching the children, and her husband was away in Texas on a business trip.

The exact details of the incident remain a topic of debate. Some witnesses stated that Till wolf-whistled at Carolyn, while others said that the teenager sometimes whistled to alleviate a stutter. Although Carolyn initially claimed that Till grabbed her waist and made lewd comments, she reportedly admitted to a historian decades later that she had fabricated these specific details.

Regardless of which version of the story is true, the teenager's actions did not warrant the brutal violence that followed.

Murder

Three days later, Carolyn's husband, Roy, returned from his trip to Texas and learned of the incident. Incensed, he immediately began questioning locals to identify the teenager who had allegedly whistled at his wife.

During the early hours of August 28, 1955, Roy and his half-brother, J. W. Milam, arrived at Till's great-uncle's house and abducted the boy at gunpoint. After forcing him into their truck and tying him up, they drove to a barn in Drew, Mississippi, where they beat and shot him.

Afterward, the men tied a large gin fan around Till's neck and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River.

On August 31, two boys discovered Till's body while fishing in the river. Although the remains were unrecognizable, his great-uncle identified him by a monogrammed ring on his finger.

Aftermath

Till's mother, Mamie, insisted on an open-casket funeral, as she wanted the world to witness the violence inflicted on her son.

Bryant and Milam faced trial for the murder, but an all-white jury found them not guilty on September 23, 1955. One year later, the brothers granted an exclusive interview to Look magazine, in which they admitted to the killing.

Till's murder and the subsequent acquittal of his killers sparked national outrage, highlighting the racial injustice prevalent in the Deep South.

His death, along with the Montgomery bus boycott, is widely considered a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Following the trial, the Black community boycotted the Bryants, forcing them to sell the store. It eventually operated as "Wolfe's Grocery and Market" and later "Young's Grocery and Market."

Tribble family

The Tribble family purchased the site in the mid-1980s. The owners' father, Ray Tribble, was a member of the jury that acquitted Till's killers.

Since purchasing the property, the family has done little to preserve the site. Several parties have offered to buy it, but the Tribbles are reportedly unwilling to sell the dilapidated site for less than $4 million.

The family also owns Ben Roy's service station, which sits adjacent to the ruins. In 2011, the Tribble family used $200,000 from a Mississippi Civil Rights Historical Sites grant to restore the station.

Despite its proximity to Bryant's, the service station has no direct connection to Till's murder. The owners bypassed this stipulation by arguing that the events at Bryant's were "likely" discussed at Ben Roy's. They also stated that visitors could use the newly renovated station to take shelter from the weather while discussing the case.

The restoration was completed in 2014 and features no mention of Till's murder or the civil rights movement.

Historical marker

A historical marker at the site commemorates Till.

Over the years, it has been vandalized repeatedly. In one instance, it was riddled with bullet holes.

The inscription reads:

Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till came to this site to buy candy in August 1955. White shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant accused the black youth of flirting with her, and shortly thereafter, Till was abducted by Bryant's husband and his half brother. Till's tortured body was later found in the Tallahatchie River. The two men were tried and acquitted, but later sold their murder confession to Look magazine. Till's death received international attention and is widely credited with sparking the American Civil Rights Movement.