Duck Hill is named for a large hill northeast of the town, where "Duck", a Choctaw chief, held war councils.[5] Chief Duck was also a medicine man or shaman who treated his people. A statue of Chief Duck is located on U.S. Route 51 in Duck Hill, next to an old Illinois Central caboose.
The first European-American settler in the area was John A. Binford in 1834, who acquired land following Indian Removal of the Choctaw, who were forced to cede their lands to the United States. He built the first home in the area, and developed his property as a cotton plantation, based on enslaved African American workers. He became one of the region's most successful planters and large slaveholders. Binford was elected to the Mississippi Legislature. Duck Hill was a trading center for the cotton planters.
A train wreck occurred at Duck Hill on October 19, 1862, during the American Civil War, when in the early morning hours two trains collided head-on, killing 34 men. Most of the dead were Confederate soldiers. It was the South's worst loss of life in a train accident to that time.[7]
In 1887, regional businessmen hoped that Duck Hill would become a thriving mill town after iron ore was found nearby. Financial speculation followed. Tour of our Southern Correspondent reported in The New York Times:
Duck Hill is the euphonious appellation of a straggling wee bit of a hamlet down in the depths of Mississippi, a dozen miles or so from Grenada, on the Illinois Central Railroad, known to the world and to history in something less than a wholesale way.[10]
Duck Hill was the site of a railroad robbery in 1888. Two armed men, Rube Burrow and Joe Jackson, clung to the outside of a train as it left the station, then climbed to the engine cab. They ordered the engineer to stop the train about a mile north of town. The robbers plundered the express car's safe of $3,000, killing one man who tried to intervene.[11][12]
20th century to present
In 1930, the Lloyd T. Binford High School opened in Duck Hill. (It was named for Lloyd T. Binford, a Memphis insurance executive and film censor, and the son of state senator James R. Binford. Lloyd Binford was noted for his views on "Southern womanhood" and white supremacy.) The city also built an agriculture education facility for its vocational students, who were overwhelmingly African American in the segregated system.
A new elementary school was constructed in 1963. The schools have since been closed because of declining population in the town.
The high school's gymnasium is used as a community center. In 2012, a committee of volunteers was established to preserve the high school, which has suffered from vandalism.[13]
During World War II, African Americans from across the country were among soldiers trained and stationed in the South. Many resented the segregation of public facilities they were forced to observe. In 1943, fifteen armed black soldiers from nearby Camp McCain came to Duck Hill during the night and began firing into the town. There were no injuries. The soldiers were upset about a recent white assault against a group of black soldiers at nearby Starkville.[14][15]
Senator Trent Lott, whose father sharecropped a stretch of cotton field in Duck Hill during the 1940s, said in 1999 while supporting a bill for public education:
I am a product of public education from the first grade through the second, third, and fourth grades where I went to school at Duck Hill, Mississippi, and I had better teachers in the second, third, and fourth grades in Duck Hill, Mississippi, than I had the rest of my life.[16][17]
The brutal lynching of two black men, Roosevelt Townes and Robert "Bootjack" McDaniels, in Duck Hill mid-day on April 13, 1937, gained national publicity. These were among nine lynchings of African Americans by whites in Montgomery County, Mississippi, from the post-Reconstruction period into the 20th century. Most occurred in the decades near the turn of the 20th century.[18]
The men had been arraigned in the Montgomery County Courthouse in the county seat of Winona, charged with murdering George Windham, a grocer in Duck Hill, in December 1936. Both men pleaded not guilty. Outside the courthouse a crowd had gathered, and then a group of 12 white men abducted the two accused men from the courthouse.[19]
Townes and McDaniels were loaded into a school bus and driven to a wooded area near Duck Hill. Hundreds of white people followed, and a crowd estimated at 300-500 looked on as Townes and McDaniels were each chained to a tree.[20][21] A blowtorch was used to torture them, until each confessed to Windham's murder. Gasoline was doused on Townes, and on brush around him, and he was burned to death. McDaniels was riddled with bullets, and fatally shot through the head.[20]
The police officers who had been guarding the two defendants said they were unable to identify any members of the mob.[20] As was typical in lynching cases, no one was charged in the abduction or murders.[22]
Newspapers carried a photograph of McDaniels' burned and tortured body chained to a tree, and the lynchings were nationally condemned. German newspapers at the time used the murders for propaganda, contrasting the lynchings to controls in Nazi Germany under the "humane" Nuremberg racial laws.[23]
Such publicity enabled Joseph A. Gavagan (D-New York) to gain support for anti-lynching legislation he had put forward in the House of Representatives; it was supported in the Senate by Democrats Robert F. Wagner (New York) and Frederick Van Nuys (Indiana). The legislation eventually passed in the House, but the white Democrats of the Solid South (most blacks in the region were disenfranchised) blocked it in the Senate, with Senator Allen Ellender even proclaiming, "We shall at all cost preserve the white supremacy of America."[24] Their colleagues had similarly defeated anti-lynching legislation in the 1920s that was passed overwhelmingly by the House.[25][26]
Geography
Duck Hill is in northwestern Montgomery County. U.S. Route 51 passes through the center of town, leading south 12 miles (19km) to Winona, the county seat, and northwest 11 miles (18km) to Grenada. Mississippi Highway 404 passes through the town as well, leading east 14 miles (23km) to Alva and west 5 miles (8km) to Interstate 55.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Duck Hill has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6km2), all land.[1]Big Bogue Creek forms part of the northern border of the town and flows northward to Batupan Bogue, a north-flowing tributary of the Yalobusha River, part of the Yazoo River watershed.
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
2000 Census
As of the census[30] of 2000, there were 746 people, 307 households, and 201 families residing in the town. The population density was 720.8 inhabitants per square mile (278.3/km2). There were 331 housing units at an average density of 319.8 per square mile (123.5/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 63.27% African American, 36.06% White and 0.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.80% of the population.
There were 307 households, out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.5 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 69.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $24,118, and the median income for a family was $29,375. Males had a median income of $26,731 versus $15,639 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,550. About 18.9% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 32.6% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
There are several small businesses within the town limits. Of those include a small Jiffy Mart gas station where U.S. Route 51 and Main Street intersect and a Regions Bank. In September 2009, a Dollar General was opened adjacent to U.S. Route 51 in the north part of town.
Arts and culture
Lucie Campbell, a singer and composer of gospel music, was born in Duck Hill and a small memorial recounting her achievements in the music industry is located near the statue of Chief Duck.[citation needed]
Duck Hill was formerly served by the Montgomery County School District, which operated Montgomery County High School and Montgomery County Elementary School. The aforementioned schools were located in Kilmichael. The Duck Hill Head Start Center is a preschool located at 620 Carrollton St.[31]
At one time Duck Hill had its own elementary school, Duck Hill Elementary School; circa 2001 it had around 100 students. At that time school district officials were considering closing it and moving the students to Kilmichael Elementary.[32] The district also, at one time, operated Duck Hill High School.[33]
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 4,505 at the 2020 census, down from 5,043 in 2010. Winona is known in the local area as "The Crossroads"; the intersection of U.S. Interstate 55 and U.S. Highway 51 and 82 run through here.
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,822. Its county seat is Winona.
Montgomery County is a county in the east central part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,322. Its county seat is Montgomery City. The county was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada.
Pike County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Missouri, bounded by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,587. Its county seat is Bowling Green. Its namesake was a city in middle Kentucky, a region from where many early migrants came. The county was organized December 14, 1818, and named for explorer Zebulon Pike. The folksong "Sweet Betsy from Pike" is generally thought to be associated with Pike County, Missouri.
Mississippi County is a county located in the Bootheel of the U.S. state of Missouri, with its eastern border formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,577. The largest city and county seat is Charleston. The county was officially organized on February 14, 1845, and was named after the Mississippi River.
Choctaw County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,246. Its northern border is the Big Black River, which flows southwest into the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg. The county seat is Ackerman.
Carroll County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,998. Its county seats are Carrollton and Vaiden. The county is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence.
Winona County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population was 49,671. Its county seat is Winona. Winona County comprises the Winona, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Boulder Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Oswego Township, Kendall County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 8,394. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area on the Fox River, south of Aurora.
Mound Bayou is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,533 at the 2010 census, down from 2,102 in 2000. It was founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery. Mound Bayou Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Winstonville is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 153.
Carrollton is a town in and the second county seat of Carroll County, Mississippi, United States, which is within the Mississippi Delta. The population was 190 at the 2010 census, down from 408 in 2000. Centrally located in the county, the town is part of the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area. The first county seat, Vaiden, was founded in the eastern part of the county during its early settlement.
Leakesville is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Chickasawhay River in Greene County, Mississippi, United States. It is served by the junction of Mississippi routes 57 and 63. As of the 2010 census, the rural town population was 898, down from 1,026 at the 2000 census.
Grenada is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1836, the population was 13,092 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County.
Pickens is a town in Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 920.
Kilmichael is a town in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 639.
Bentonia is a town in Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 319.
The Montgomery County School District was a public school district with its headquarters in Winona, Mississippi.
Stewart is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 99.
On April 13, 1937, Roosevelt Townes and Robert McDaniels, two black men, were lynched in Duck Hill, Mississippi by a white mob after being labeled as the murderers of a white storekeeper. They had only been legally accused of the crime a few minutes before they were kidnapped from the courthouse, chained to trees, and tortured with a blow torch. Following the torture, McDaniels was shot to death and Townes was burned alive.
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