Yazoo City, Mississippi | |
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 Yazoo City welcome sign | |
 Flag | |
| Nickname: | |
 Location of Yazoo City, Mississippi inMississippi | |
  Yazoo City, Mississippi Yazoo City, Mississippi (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:32°52′00″N90°24′12″W / 32.86667°N 90.40333°W /32.86667; -90.40333 | |
| Country | United States of America |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Yazoo |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | David "Mel" Starling (D)[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 10.21 sq mi (26.44 km2) |
| • Land | 10.08 sq mi (26.12 km2) |
| • Water | 0.13 sq mi (0.32 km2) |
| Elevation | 98 ft (30 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 10,316 |
| • Density | 1,023.01/sq mi (394.97/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 39194 |
| Area code | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-81520 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2405798[4] |
| Website | City of Yazoo City |
Yazoo City is a city in and thecounty seat ofYazoo County,Mississippi, United States. It was named after theYazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorerRobert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to theYazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. Yazoo City is the principal city of the Yazoo CityMicropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the largerJackson–Yazoo CityCombined Statistical Area. According to the2010 census, the population was 11,403.[5]
The community now known as Yazoo City was founded in 1824 with the name Hannan's Bluff. It was later renamed Manchester, then changed to Yazoo City in 1841. Yazoo City became the county seat in 1849. Ayellow fever epidemic struck Yazoo City in 1853.
During theAmerican Civil War, the Confederate ironcladCSSArkansas was completed at a makeshift shipyard in Yazoo City after theConfederate loss ofNew Orleans andMemphis. During her short career, theArkansas challenged theUnion navy's control of theMississippi River and helped avert the early fall ofVicksburg. On May 21, 1863, as a Union fleet steamed up the Yazoo River, the Confederate forces burned down the shipyard to keep their foes from capturing the vessels being built there. The Federal forces then burned down the sawmill and lumberyard before withdrawing. After theircapture of Vicksburg in July 1863, another Union raid briefly occupied Yazoo City, but this time the Union ironcladUSSBaron DeKalb was sunk by a mine. Federal troops occupied the town in September and again in October 1863. Another occupation resulted in theBattle of Yazoo City on March 5, 1864 between the Union troops and Confederates led byRobert V. Richardson andLawrence Sullivan Ross. The Union troops held their ground but departed the following day. The Federal forces returned again on May 19, 1864, doing more damage to the town.[6]
Yazoo City was rebuilt, but yellow fever struck and took more victims in 1878. On May 25, 1904, a fire destroyed much of central Yazoo City.[7] According to a local legend, the fire was caused by a witch avenging her death.[8] In reality, a boy playing with matches accidentally set a house ablaze. The fire quickly spread, and three-fourths of the town was destroyed, including most of the homes. It was stopped by a canal, which saved the new courthouse (built in 1872 to replace the one burned by the Union forces) and 10antebellum homes nearby. The town took almost two years to recover.
In 1915, the Orr Modern Motor Car Company was founded in Yazoo City by G.A. Wilson and C.D. Orr, with capital of $2,000,000 (equivalent to $62,164,474 in 2024). Despite its name, the company was focused just on making Orr's innovative worm drive and assembled only one automobile as a prototype. Not long after, Orr shut its doors.[9]
TheGreat Mississippi Flood of 1927 did much damage to the entire Delta, but Yazoo City was restored and is now protected by an effective flood-prevention system.
A strong tornado, rated EF4 on theEnhanced Fujita scale and with a path width of 1.75 mi (2.82 km), hit Yazoo County on April 24, 2010.[10] Four people were killed in the Yazoo City area, and a number were seriously injured; four of the victims were airlifted to theUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center in the capital city of Jackson, 40 mi (64 km) away. The Governor of Mississippi,Haley Barbour, toured the area in a National Guard helicopter and held a news conference on the disaster at 3:30 pm.[11] The tornado and the aftermath were shown in an episode of theDiscovery Channel seriesStorm Chasers, and severalYouTube videos show considerable detail and descriptions.
On November 29, 2010 around 8:05 pm local time, Yazoo City was struck by two EF2 tornadoes: the first one tracked 3 mi (4.8 km) southwest of town. The second went right through downtown causing significant damage to several buildings.
A high-end EF1 tornado passed through the southeast side of the city on May 2, 2021. Multiple mobile homes were destroyed and trees, power lines, and homes were damaged.
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Yazoo City is located 40 mi (64 km) northwest ofJackson at the junctions of U.S. Routes49,49E, and49W, and MS Highways3,16, and149, on the banks of theYazoo River, near thePanther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
U.S. Route 49W provides a fairly direct link between Yazoo City andBelzoni. The old highway segment, renamedMississippi Highway 149, passes through Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the communities ofLouise andMidnight before reconnecting with the new US 49W atSilver City, 7 mi (11 km) south of Belzoni. The new highway makes the town ofCarter so near, it might be considered for annexation by Yazoo City. Two bridges now cross the Yazoo River at Yazoo City.
The section of MS 3 in Yazoo City is called Haley Barbour Parkway.Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi, grew up in Yazoo City and has a home on Wolf Lake, a lake north of Yazoo City. U.S. Route 49 (part of which was formerly U.S. 49E) through Yazoo City is namedJerry Clower Boulevard, after the famous comedian, a former resident of Yazoo City.
Yazoo City is also known as the "Gateway to the Delta" due to its location on the transition between the two great landforms that characterize the geography of Mississippi (the western part of the city lies in theMississippi Delta and the eastern part lies in the loess bluffs that characterize most of eastern Mississippi).
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.9 sq mi (28 km2), of which 10.8 sq mi (28 km2) is land and 0.1 sq mi (0.26 km2) (1.19%) is covered by water.
| Climate data for Yazoo City, Mississippi (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1960–2018) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 84 (29) | 92 (33) | 91 (33) | 94 (34) | 98 (37) | 102 (39) | 106 (41) | 106 (41) | 103 (39) | 96 (36) | 89 (32) | 86 (30) | 106 (41) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 58.4 (14.7) | 62.6 (17.0) | 70.8 (21.6) | 78.9 (26.1) | 86.0 (30.0) | 92.1 (33.4) | 94.3 (34.6) | 94.9 (34.9) | 90.5 (32.5) | 80.5 (26.9) | 68.8 (20.4) | 60.7 (15.9) | 78.2 (25.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 48.5 (9.2) | 52.0 (11.1) | 59.4 (15.2) | 67.5 (19.7) | 75.6 (24.2) | 82.1 (27.8) | 84.7 (29.3) | 84.6 (29.2) | 79.3 (26.3) | 68.7 (20.4) | 57.5 (14.2) | 51.0 (10.6) | 67.6 (19.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 38.6 (3.7) | 41.4 (5.2) | 48.0 (8.9) | 56.1 (13.4) | 65.1 (18.4) | 72.1 (22.3) | 75.1 (23.9) | 74.4 (23.6) | 68.2 (20.1) | 57.0 (13.9) | 46.1 (7.8) | 41.2 (5.1) | 56.9 (13.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −4 (−20) | 4 (−16) | 15 (−9) | 28 (−2) | 39 (4) | 50 (10) | 53 (12) | 52 (11) | 35 (2) | 28 (−2) | 18 (−8) | 2 (−17) | −4 (−20) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 5.69 (145) | 5.57 (141) | 5.94 (151) | 6.58 (167) | 5.74 (146) | 4.37 (111) | 4.02 (102) | 4.51 (115) | 3.31 (84) | 4.27 (108) | 4.57 (116) | 5.81 (148) | 60.38 (1,534) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 7.2 | 9.0 | 92.0 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Source:NOAA[12][13] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 2,542 | — | |
| 1890 | 3,286 | 29.3% | |
| 1900 | 4,944 | 50.5% | |
| 1910 | 6,796 | 37.5% | |
| 1920 | 5,244 | −22.8% | |
| 1930 | 5,579 | 6.4% | |
| 1940 | 7,258 | 30.1% | |
| 1950 | 9,746 | 34.3% | |
| 1960 | 11,236 | 15.3% | |
| 1970 | 11,688 | 4.0% | |
| 1980 | 12,426 | 6.3% | |
| 1990 | 12,427 | 0.0% | |
| 2000 | 14,550 | 17.1% | |
| 2010 | 11,403 | −21.6% | |
| 2020 | 10,316 | −9.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[14] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White | 1,138 | 11.03% |
| Black or African American | 8,830 | 85.6% |
| Native American | 6 | 0.06% |
| Asian | 61 | 0.59% |
| Pacific Islander | 4 | 0.04% |
| Other/Mixed | 201 | 1.95% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 76 | 0.74% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 10,316 people, 3,670 households, and 2,050 families residing in the city.
As of the2010 United States Census, there were 11,403 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 82.0% Black, 16.1% White, 0.1% Native American, 0.5% Asian and 0.5% from two or more races. 0.7% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
As of thecensus of 2000, 14,550 people, 4,271 households, and 2,968 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,349.2 inhabitants per square mile (520.9/km2). The 4,676 housing units averaged 433.6 per mi2 (167.5/km2). Theracial makeup of the city was 28.73% White, 69.68% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.23% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 7.47% of the population.
Of the 4,271 households, 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.5% weremarried couples living together, 32.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were not families. About 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.49.
In the city, the population was distributed as 29.0% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,893, and for a family was $22,470. Males had a median income of $26,109 versus $18,650 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $9,251. About 35.0% of families and 40.2% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 52.5% of those under age 18 and 23.5% of those age 65 or over.
TheInstitute of Southern Jewish Life stated that the Jewish community has been characterized by assimilation and was "small, but influential".[16] 44 Jews lived in the community in 1878, but a flood of theMississippi River in 1882 meant that additional Jews displaced by the flood came. There were 61 Jews in the city by 1937. The Jews in the community did not create a congregation, and the nearest houses of worship were, in the mid-20th century, inJackson andGreenwood.[16]
TheFederal Bureau of Prisons operates theFederal Correctional Complex, Yazoo City, which consists of FCI Yazoo City Low, FCI Yazoo City Medium, FCI Camp, and FCI USP Yazoo City.[17]
Diane Delaware was sworn in as the first female mayor of Yazoo City on April 14, 2014.[18] She was re-elected to a second term on April 2, 2018.[19]
Yazoo City's current mayor is David "Mel" Starling, who was sworn in on Monday, April 11, 2022.[20]
TheUnited States Postal Service operates the Yazoo City Post Office.[21]
Yazoo City is served by theYazoo City Municipal School District;[22]Yazoo City High School is the public school of this district.
Yazoo County High School, outside of the city limits and a part of theYazoo County School District, does not serve areas in the Yazoo City city limits.[22]
The three private schools are Thomas Christian Academy (Pre-K–12), Manchester Academy (Pre-K–12), and Covenant Christian School (K–6th grade).
WBYP andWYAZ, both FM, are two local radio stations.The Yazoo Herald is Yazoo County's only daily newspaper.[23]
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Yazoo City using theYazoo City Station. The Amtrak station is located at 222 West Broadway.
Yazoo County Airport is inunincorporatedYazoo County,[24] 2 miles (3.2 km) west of central Yazoo City. Lynne W. Jeter of theMississippi Business Journal said in 2001 that the county airport "may have played an important role in landing the multiphase federal prison project that is currently under expansion."[25]
And after being presented with a gavel and sworn in by Federal Judge Carlton Reeves, David "Mel" Starling began his tenure as Yazoo City's new mayor.
Jeppie Barbour, banker and Jaycee leader, last week qualified as an Independent candidate for Mayor in the Monday, April 1 Municipal General election.
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