The old river town of Belmont is about 3 miles south of Sardis. It gradually disappeared when the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad that ran from Memphis to Grenada was built. Cotton was shipped by boat from Belmont to Vicksburg and New Orleans untill the railroad made it possible to ship by rail and not having to wait until the river was right for shipping. Sardis was about half way between Memphis and Grenada on the railroad and was the site for good water used to supply the steam engines of the railroad. The town (Sardis)was first named Danville and was changed to Sardis named for one of the seven churches refered to in the Bible. Sardis Baptist Church in the town of Danville also helped name the town of Sardis.
The town of Belmont had several stores and shops, I have read where it was a rowdy town having saloons etc, it was a port on the Tallahatchie River. There is no indication now of where the town of Belmont was. I have studied this town and have visited this location often having grown up between Sardis and the Old Town of Belmont, I have a silver Masonic emblem that was reported to have been made by a silversmith in the Town of Belmont, it is said this emblem was in the cornerstone of the Masonic Hall in that town, my ancestors were from the area and were Masons; this has been passed down for 4 generations. Some information you read shows Belmont was on the Tallahatchie River where the railroad crossed, this is not true, Belmont was approx 2 miles east of the location on todays map that shows the railroad and the Tallahatchie River. If you can use a county map you will see Belmont Rd crossing the Tallahatchie River, the bulk of the town was just to the west of Belmont Rd and the Tallahatchie River.