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  The United States government in partnership with the State of Mississippi and local governments, constructed the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway as an inland water transportation link for the promotion of economic development and the transportation of commodities and materials in an economically-efficient and green-energy-efficient mode.
In the years since the construction of this waterway, the State of Mississippi and local governments strategically developed five ports along the waterway. Today those five ports have joined as partners in working with economic development and the promotion of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. This partnership is known as GROWPORTS, signifying the generation of regional opportunity along the waterway. The member ports of the association are Yellow Creek Port, Port Itawamba, Amory Port, Aberdeen Port and Columbus Port. The GROWPORTS association participates in promoting green energy driven economic development and transportation through the development of a comprehensive, energy-efficient intermodal transportation network connecting the inland waterways of the Tennessee River with the international waterways through Mobile, Alabama. The GROWPORTS region is located along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in northeastern Mississippi and our mission includes an economic impact area covering not only northeastern Mississippi but parts of Tennessee and Alabama as well.
After twelve years of construction, the waterway and its seventeen public ports and terminals opened to commercial traffic during January 1985. In addition to the original 110,000 acres of land acquired for the construction and operation of the project, another 88,000 acres have been purchased and managed by the two state conservation agencies for wildlife habitat preservation and mixed use including hunting and parks.
GROWPORTS
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The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, popularly known as the Tenn-Tom, is a 234-mile artificial waterway that provides a connecting link between the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers. The waterway begins at Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River, then flows southward through northeastern Mississippi and western Alabama, finally connecting with the established Warrior-Tombigbee navigation system at Demopolis, Alabama.
Post Office Box 577 - Fulton, Mississippi - Phone (662) 862-4573 - Fax (662) 862-5637