Duncansby, Mississippi

Duncansby, Mississippi
Ghost town
Locations in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, and Issaquena County, Mississippi; Duncansby on far right
Duncansby Show map of Mississippi Duncansby Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 32°57′51″N91°04′47″W / 32.96417°N 91.07972°W / 32.96417; -91.07972
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Issaquena
Elevation	102 ft (31 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	687591 [1]

Duncansby is a ghost town in Issaquena County, Mississippi, United States. ^[1]

Duncansby was located on a stretch of the Mississippi River known as Duncansby Chute. ^[2]

History

In 1844, nearby Skipwith became the first county seat. In 1848, the county seat was moved to Duncansby. Later that year, the county seat was moved to Tallula. ^[3]

In 1887, the town had about 100 residents, several stores, and three fraternal organizations. ^[4] However the construction of the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway had already led to a significant decrease in the use of the River port at Duncansby. ^[4] In 1900, Duncansby had two churches, and a population of 157. ^[5] A post office operated from 1874 to 1919. ^[6]

During the 19th century, the town erected dikes to reduce river flooding. ^[2] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the Sarah Cutoff in 1935, which created Old River Chute, an oxbow lake, and removed Duncansby from the contiguous Mississippi River. ^[7]

Nothing remains of the former community.

References

1. "Duncansby Landing, Mississippi". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. Annual Report of the Mississippi River Commission. Mississippi River Commission. 1884. p. 423.
3. Hellmann, Paul T. (2006). Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Routledge. p. 599. ISBN   1135948593.
4. "Issaquena County by W. E. Collins". The Weekly Democrat-Times. Greenville, Mississippi. October 1, 1887. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
5. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Vol. 1. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 666.
6. "Issaquena County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
7. Bragg, Marion (1977). "Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River" (PDF). Mississippi River Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2013.