Neshoba County, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
 Neshoba County Courthouse and Confederate Monument in Philadelphia | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofMississippi | |
 Mississippi's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:32°45′N89°07′W / 32.75°N 89.12°W /32.75; -89.12 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Mississippi |
| Founded | 1833 |
| Named after | Choctaw for “wolf” |
| Seat | Philadelphia |
| Largest city | Philadelphia |
| Area | |
• Total | 572 sq mi (1,480 km2) |
| • Land | 570 sq mi (1,500 km2) |
| • Water | 1.5 sq mi (3.9 km2) 0.3% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 29,087 |
| • Density | 51/sq mi (20/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 3rd |
| Website | www |
Neshoba County is acounty located in the central part of theU.S. state ofMississippi. As of the2020 census, the population was 29,087.[1] Itscounty seat isPhiladelphia.[2]
The county is known for theNeshoba County Fair andharness horse races. It is home of the Williams Brothers Store, which has been in operation since the early 1900s.
In June 1964, civil rights workersJames Chaney,Andrew Goodman, andMichael Schwerner were chased down,tortured, and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. They were buried in an earthen dam on private property off Highway 21; Goodman was still alive.[3] Initially treated as amissing persons case, their disappearance provoked national outrage and contributed significantly to the July enactment of theCivil Rights Act byPresident Johnson.[4]
TheMississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI), a federally recognized tribe, is based here and has developed one of the largestcasino complexes in the state on their reservation, thePearl River Resort.
At the time of European encounter, this was part of the territory of the historicChoctaw people, who occupied most of what later was defined as Mississippi. Under PresidentAndrew Jackson, the United States conductedIndian removal in the 1830s in the Southeast, and most of the Choctawwere removed to west of the Mississippi River, to land inIndian Territory, now part of Oklahoma.
Neshoba was founded by European American settlers in 1833.
Descendants of the Choctaw who remained in the state continued to identify as Choctaw. They lived in relatively distinct communities and reorganized in the 1930s, gaining federal recognition as theMississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Even in the 1970s, eighty percent of their people continued to speak Choctaw.
The white-dominated state legislature passed anew constitution in 1890, that effectivelydisenfranchised mostfreedmen and other non-whites, such as Native Americans. This exclusion was maintained well into the 20th century, but activists in the 1960s increasingly worked to restore voting rights throughout the state.
At various times, 76 post offices were established within the county. Around the turn of the 20th century, 40 small post offices were operating at the same time. By 1971, only the post offices in Philadelphia and Neshoba were still operational. Today, only the one in Philadelphia remains.[5]
Neshoba County is known as the site of the lynching murder of three young activists in July 1964 duringFreedom Summer in Mississippi, a period of education and a voter registration drive to prepare African Americans for voting. The three young men, two from the North, disappeared at a time of heightened violence, and they became the subjects of a state andFBI search. White supremacists were found to havemurdered three civil rights activists: James Cheney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner nearPhiladelphia, the county seat. During theinvestigation, searchers found the bodies of eight other young black men in nearby locations.[6] Deputy SheriffCecil Price was implicated and charged with being part of the group thatlynched the three young men and buried them in an earthen dam 15 miles northeast ofPhiladelphia. Outrage over the crime contributed to congressional passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 andVoting Rights Act of 1965. The crime and decades-long legal aftermath of investigation and trials inspired the 1988 movieMississippi Burning.
In 1980,Ronald Reagan launched his presidential campaign at theNeshoba County Fair to delivera speech on economic policy and refer tostates' rights. He was believed by some to be referring to southern conservative values, in an area associated with the 1964 murders and at a time when the Republican Party was attracting more white conservatives from the Democratic Party.[7][8]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 572 square miles (1,480 km2), of which 570 square miles (1,500 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (0.3%) is water.[9]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 | 2,437 | — | |
| 1850 | 4,728 | 94.0% | |
| 1860 | 8,343 | 76.5% | |
| 1870 | 7,439 | −10.8% | |
| 1880 | 8,741 | 17.5% | |
| 1890 | 11,146 | 27.5% | |
| 1900 | 12,726 | 14.2% | |
| 1910 | 17,980 | 41.3% | |
| 1920 | 19,303 | 7.4% | |
| 1930 | 26,691 | 38.3% | |
| 1940 | 27,882 | 4.5% | |
| 1950 | 25,730 | −7.7% | |
| 1960 | 20,927 | −18.7% | |
| 1970 | 20,802 | −0.6% | |
| 1980 | 23,789 | 14.4% | |
| 1990 | 24,800 | 4.2% | |
| 2000 | 28,684 | 15.7% | |
| 2010 | 29,676 | 3.5% | |
| 2020 | 29,087 | −2.0% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 28,973 | [10] | −0.4% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[11] 1790-1960[12] 1900-1990[13] 1990-2000[14] 2010-2013[1] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White | 16,426 | 56.47% |
| Black or African American | 6,380 | 21.93% |
| Native American | 4,913 | 16.89% |
| Asian | 122 | 0.42% |
| Other/Mixed | 812 | 2.79% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 434 | 1.49% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 29,087 people, 10,657 households, and 7,184 families residing in the county.
As of thecensus[16] of 2000, there were 28,684 people, 10,694 households, and 7,742 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 50 people per square mile (19 people/km2). There were 11,980 housing units at an average density of 21 units per square mile (8.1 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 65.50%White, 19.33%Black orAfrican American, 13.80%Native American, 0.19%Asian, 0.02%Pacific Islander, 0.34% fromother races, and 0.81% from two or more races. 1.16% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 28.6% identified as ofAmerican ancestry, 8.8% asIrish and 6.1% asEnglish, according toCensus 2000. Those who identify as having "American" ancestry are predominantly of English descent, but have ancestors who came to the US so long ago that they identify simply as American.[17][18] 88.7% spokeEnglish and 10.2%Choctaw as their first language.
There were 10,694 households, out of which 34.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.50% weremarried couples living together, 15.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.20% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 21.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $28,300, and the median income for a family was $33,439. Males had a median income of $28,112 versus $19,882 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $14,964. About 17.90% of families and 21.00% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 27.20% of those under age 18 and 22.00% of those age 65 or over.
Neshoba County is strongly Republican, having not supported a Democratic presidential candidate sinceJimmy Carter won it by plurality 1976.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1912 | 22 | 2.43% | 806 | 88.96% | 78 | 8.61% |
| 1916 | 69 | 4.39% | 1,459 | 92.87% | 43 | 2.74% |
| 1920 | 182 | 13.74% | 1,088 | 82.11% | 55 | 4.15% |
| 1924 | 228 | 12.45% | 1,603 | 87.55% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1928 | 516 | 21.30% | 1,906 | 78.70% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 56 | 2.43% | 2,236 | 97.22% | 8 | 0.35% |
| 1936 | 67 | 1.88% | 3,495 | 98.04% | 3 | 0.08% |
| 1940 | 77 | 2.60% | 2,880 | 97.07% | 10 | 0.34% |
| 1944 | 131 | 4.15% | 3,025 | 95.85% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 33 | 1.05% | 260 | 8.31% | 2,837 | 90.64% |
| 1952 | 1,081 | 23.26% | 3,567 | 76.74% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 502 | 13.83% | 2,827 | 77.90% | 300 | 8.27% |
| 1960 | 580 | 14.02% | 1,840 | 44.49% | 1,716 | 41.49% |
| 1964 | 5,431 | 94.88% | 293 | 5.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 531 | 6.79% | 867 | 11.09% | 6,417 | 82.11% |
| 1972 | 6,815 | 88.22% | 812 | 10.51% | 98 | 1.27% |
| 1976 | 3,859 | 49.35% | 3,891 | 49.76% | 69 | 0.88% |
| 1980 | 5,165 | 56.45% | 3,872 | 42.32% | 112 | 1.22% |
| 1984 | 6,715 | 71.71% | 2,630 | 28.09% | 19 | 0.20% |
| 1988 | 6,363 | 68.08% | 2,942 | 31.48% | 42 | 0.45% |
| 1992 | 6,135 | 61.09% | 3,090 | 30.77% | 817 | 8.14% |
| 1996 | 4,545 | 58.37% | 2,646 | 33.98% | 596 | 7.65% |
| 2000 | 6,409 | 70.69% | 2,563 | 28.27% | 94 | 1.04% |
| 2004 | 7,780 | 74.67% | 2,600 | 24.95% | 39 | 0.37% |
| 2008 | 8,209 | 72.00% | 3,114 | 27.31% | 79 | 0.69% |
| 2012 | 7,837 | 71.15% | 3,089 | 28.04% | 89 | 0.81% |
| 2016 | 7,679 | 72.77% | 2,715 | 25.73% | 159 | 1.51% |
| 2020 | 8,320 | 71.09% | 3,260 | 27.86% | 123 | 1.05% |
| 2024 | 8,154 | 74.99% | 2,622 | 24.11% | 97 | 0.89% |
School districts include:[20]
Choctaw Tribal School System maintains Bogue Chitto Elementary School,[21] Pearl River Elementary School,[22] Tucker Elementary School,[23] Choctaw Central Middle School,[24] and Choctaw Central High School in the county.[25]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)This is the story of the 76 small post offices which have served the people of Neshoba county down through the years. Only one of the 76 remains open today – Philadelphia.
13241 Highway 491 North Philadelphia, MS 39050
470 Industrial Road Choctaw, MS 39350
126 East Tucker Circle Philadelphia, MS 39350
150 Recreation Road Choctaw, MS 39350
150 Recreation Road Choctaw, MS 39350
Places adjacent to Neshoba County, Mississippi | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofNeshoba County, Mississippi,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Town | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Other communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
