Gum Ridge, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
  Gum Ridge  Gum Ridge | |
| Coordinates: 31°47′01″N91°14′40″W / 31.78361°N 91.24444°W Coordinates: 31°47′01″N91°14′40″W / 31.78361°N 91.24444°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Jefferson |
| Elevation | 69 ft (21 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 707694 [1] |
Gum Ridge is a ghost town in Jefferson County, Mississippi. [1]
A ghost town is an abandoned village, town, or city, usually one that contains substantial visible remains. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, prolonged droughts, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, pollution, or nuclear disasters. The term can sometimes refer to cities, towns, and neighbourhoods that are still populated, but significantly less so than in past years; for example, those affected by high levels of unemployment and dereliction.
Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,726, making it the third-least populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Fayette. The county is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
Gum Ridge was located at the eastern end of a bend in the Mississippi River, at the mouth of Coles Creek. [2]
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Coles Creek is a creek in Mississippi that is a tributary of the Mississippi River. The Natchez Trace has a rest stop along Coles Creek.
A post office was established in 1875, [3] and the hamlet was included on Mississippi River postal routes.
The river changed course in 1884 and began to flow along the "Waterproof Cutoff", named for nearby Waterproof, Louisiana. Gum Ridge had been removed from the contiguous Mississippi River, and the former bend in the river filled in. [4]
Waterproof is a village in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States with a population of 834 as of the 2000 census. However, the population declined in the 2010 census by 17.5 percent to 688. The village in 2010 was 91.7 percent African American. Some 24 percent of Waterproof residents in 2010 were aged sixty or above.
In 1900, Gum Ridge had a population of 29. [2]
Aboriginal artifacts, particularly a celt and a sandstone pipe, have been found at Gum Ridge. [5]
In archaeology, a celt is a long, thin, prehistoric, stone or bronze tool similar to an adze, a hoe or axe-like tool.
