FERRIDAY — When you see a Mississippi Blues Trail sign in Ferriday next spring, don’t assume that state lines have been redrawn.

Instead, Ferriday will be one of the few towns outside of Mississippi to have a blues trail marker.

“They have a blues trail marker in Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans and London, so we find ourselves in the company of Chicago, New Orleans, Memphis and London,” said local resident Tommy Polk, who worked with the Mississippi Development Authority’s blues commission and the Louisiana Office of Culture, Recreation and Tourism to get Ferriday the designation.

“We are just a little community, but we have a strong role in the growth of blues, rhythm and blues and other African American delta music coming out of Ferriday.”

The marker will honor the site of Haney’s Big House, a nightclub run by the late Will Haney during the 1940s and 1950s.

The work to get the blues marker started after Polk and Ferriday Mayor Glen McGlothin went on a driving tour of other delta music destinations.

At a stop at the B.B. King museum, the two saw a picture of Haney’s, McGlothin said.

“Haney’s wasn’t just famous here, it was famous all over the place,” he said.

The nightclub, which was part of what was known as the chitlin circuit, played host to the legends of blues music — Fats Domino, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and King, to name a few.

“These big-selling black acts would headline at a big venue on Saturday night, and (Haney) would get these top names to come play on Sunday and get them on a deep discount for routing purposes,” Polk said. “He would pack that place out.”

The club was located on a half block near the current location of Hair Plus, McGlothin said.

“I knew Mr. Haney as a small boy, and there was no trouble at Haney’s. Mr. Will ran it like a business, and trouble doesn’t make business,” he said.

“He was a pioneer — a small club bringing in that kind of talent here, that doesn’t even happen now.”

Polk said he hopes to have the marker placed May 1, when the first Ferriday Soul Survivors festival will be.

“We are going to try to get some local acts and go to New Orleans and find some acts that played in Haney’s Big House,” he said. “We’re trying to start this festival to honor the music that started rock-and-roll, and just about all the music you hear on the radio these days.”