Lauderdale County, Mississippi

Lauderdale County
County
Lauderdale County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 32°24′N88°40′W / 32.4°N 88.66°W / 32.4; -88.66
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1833
Named for	James Lauderdale
Seat	Meridian
Largest city	Meridian
Area
• Total	715 sq mi (1,850 km2)
• Land	704 sq mi (1,820 km2)
• Water	12 sq mi (30 km2)  1.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	72,984
• Density	100/sq mi (39/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	3rd
Website	www.lauderdalecounty.org

Lauderdale County is a county located on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,984. ^[1] The county seat and largest city is Meridian. ^[2] The county is named for Colonel James Lauderdale, who was killed at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. ^[3] Lauderdale County is included in the Meridian, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

An early explorer, Sam Dale, died in the county and is buried in Daleville. A large monument is placed at his burial site. Andrew Jackson traveled through the county on his way to New Orleans and a town was named Hickory after his nickname "Old Hickory".

The largest city in the county is Meridian, which was an important railway intersection during the early 20th century. It was also home to the Soule Steam Feed Works which manufactured steam engines. Logging and rail transport were important early industries in the county. One of the largest waterfalls in Mississippi, Dunns Falls, is located in the county and a water driven mill still exists on the site. Lauderdale county is also home to the headquarters of Peavey Electronics which has manufactured audio and music equipment for half a century.

Like much of the post-Reconstruction South the county has a checkered racial history with 16 documented lynchings in the period from 1877 to 1950; most occurred around the turn of the 20th century. ^[4]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 715 square miles (1,850 km²), of which 704 square miles (1,820 km²) is land and 12 square miles (31 km²) (1.6%) is water. ^[5]

Major highways

• Interstate 59
• Interstate 20
• U.S. Highway 11
• U.S. Highway 45
• U.S. Highway 80
• Mississippi Highway 19
• Mississippi Highway 39

Adjacent counties

• Kemper County (north)
• Sumter County, Alabama (east)
• Choctaw County, Alabama (southeast)
• Clarke County (south)
• Newton County (west)

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1840	5,358		—
1850	8,717		62.7%
1860	13,313		52.7%
1870	13,462		1.1%
1880	21,501		59.7%
1890	29,661		38.0%
1900	38,150		28.6%
1910	46,919		23.0%
1920	45,897		−2.2%
1930	52,748		14.9%
1940	58,247		10.4%
1950	64,171		10.2%
1960	67,119		4.6%
1970	67,087		0.0%
1980	77,285		15.2%
1990	75,555		−2.2%
2000	78,161		3.4%
2010	80,261		2.7%
2020	72,984		−9.1%
2023 (est.)	70,527	[6]	−3.4%
U.S. Decennial Census [7] 1790-1960 [8] 1900-1990 [9] 1990-2000 [10] 2010-2013 [11]

2020 census

Lauderdale County Racial Composition ^[12]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	36,534	50.06%
Black or African American	31,980	43.82%
Native American	101	0.14%
Asian	571	0.78%
Pacific Islander	28	0.04%
Other/Mixed	1,981	2.71%
Hispanic or Latino	1,789	2.45%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 72,984 people, 29,367 households, and 19,612 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the census ^[13] of 2000, there were 78,161 people, 29,990 households, and 20,573 families residing in the county. The population density was 111 inhabitants per square mile (43/km²). There were 33,418 housing units at an average density of 48 per square mile (19/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 60.15% White, 38.18% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. 1.14% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 29,990 households, out of which 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.70% were married couples living together, 18.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.40% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.60% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 21.40% 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 90.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,768, and the median income for a family was $37,581. Males had a median income of $31,069 versus $21,111 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,026. About 17.10% of families and 20.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.80% of those under age 18 and 18.80% of those age 65 or over.

2015

As of 2015 the largest self-identified ancestry groups in Lauderdale County, Mississippi are:

• English - 9.3%
• Irish - 8.9%
• American - 8.0%
• German - 5.9%
• Scottish - 2.1%
• Scots-Irish - 1.7%
• Italian - 1.2%
• French (except Basque) - 1.1%
• French-Canadian - 0.6% ^[14]

Government and infrastructure

The East Mississippi Correctional Facility is located in an unincorporated area of the county, near Meridian. Intended to provide intensive treatment for up to 1500 state prisoners who are mentally ill, it has been operated since 2012 by Management and Training Corporation under contract to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. In 2013 the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a class-action suit against the state and MTC for poor conditions at the facility. ^[15] The court granted the plaintiffs class certification in 2015, allowing the case to proceed. ^[16] The former for-profit contractor, GEO Group, ^[17] was forced out of its contracts for this and two other state facilities in 2012 as a result of settlement of a class-action suit for its poor management of the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. ^[18]

United States presidential election results for Lauderdale County, Mississippi ^[19]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	16,487	60.16%	10,677	38.96%	243	0.89%
2020	17,967	57.50%	12,960	41.48%	320	1.02%
2016	17,741	60.13%	11,269	38.19%	496	1.68%
2012	18,700	57.05%	13,814	42.15%	263	0.80%
2008	19,582	59.14%	13,332	40.26%	200	0.60%
2004	19,736	65.42%	10,292	34.11%	142	0.47%
2000	17,315	66.67%	8,412	32.39%	243	0.94%
1996	15,055	60.62%	8,668	34.90%	1,111	4.47%
1992	17,098	62.25%	8,489	30.91%	1,879	6.84%
1988	18,302	68.99%	7,967	30.03%	260	0.98%
1984	18,807	69.00%	7,534	27.64%	916	3.36%
1980	14,727	56.38%	9,918	37.97%	1,474	5.64%
1976	14,273	58.39%	9,813	40.14%	360	1.47%
1972	18,337	81.79%	3,453	15.40%	630	2.81%
1968	2,328	11.43%	3,195	15.69%	14,842	72.88%
1964	13,291	89.36%	1,583	10.64%	0	0.00%
1960	2,836	26.39%	3,755	34.95%	4,154	38.66%
1956	2,817	30.86%	5,414	59.32%	896	9.82%
1952	4,137	41.46%	5,841	58.54%	0	0.00%
1948	171	2.81%	578	9.51%	5,330	87.68%
1944	379	5.91%	6,036	94.09%	0	0.00%
1940	303	4.85%	5,936	95.04%	7	0.11%
1936	67	1.09%	6,075	98.72%	12	0.19%
1932	191	3.79%	4,830	95.85%	18	0.36%
1928	1,798	33.57%	3,558	66.43%	0	0.00%
1924	320	7.78%	3,204	77.90%	589	14.32%
1920	228	7.88%	2,539	87.76%	126	4.36%
1916	157	4.76%	3,058	92.67%	85	2.58%
1912	50	2.05%	2,204	90.33%	186	7.62%

Education

Lauderdale County is within the service area of the East Mississippi Community College system. ^[20] The system offers classes at the Naval Air Station Meridian Extension in Meridian. ^[21] Other academic institutions are Meridian Community College, and Mississippi State University Meridian Campus.

Communities

City

• Meridian (county seat and largest municipality)

Town

• Marion (smallest municipality)

Unincorporated areas

Census-designated places

• Collinsville
• Lauderdale
• Meridian Station
• Nellieburg
• Toomsuba

Other communities

• Alamucha
• Bailey
• Daleville
• Increase
• Kewanee
• Lizelia
• Meehan
• Point
• Russell
• Savoy
• Suqualena
• Whynot
• Zero

Notable people

• Samuel Dale (1772–1841), American frontiersman, known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama" and a veteran of the Creek War of 1813–14. In 1836, Dale was elected as Lauderdale County's first representative in the Mississippi state legislature. ^[22]

See also

• Mississippi portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lauderdale County, Mississippi

References

1. "Census - Geography Profile: Lauderdale County, Mississippi". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 14, 2023.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p.  182.
4. Lynching in America, 2nd edition Archived June 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine , Supplement by County, p. 5
5. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
6. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
7. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
8. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
9. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
10. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
11. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
12. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
14. Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2018.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
15. Gabriel Eber (May 30, 2013). "NEW LAWSUIT: Massive Human Rights Violations at Mississippi Prison", ACLU. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
16. Dockery v. Epps, updated September 2015, Cases: Prisoners' Rights, ACLU official website; accessed March 7, 2017
17. "Private Prisons Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine ," Mississippi Department of Corrections. Retrieved on November 19, 2010.
18. Goode, Erica (June 7, 2014). "Seeing Squalor and Unconcern in a Mississippi Jail". New York Times . Retrieved January 8, 2015.
19. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
20. "CATALOG 2007-2009 Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine ." East Mississippi Community College. 3 (3/147). Retrieved on March 1, 2011.
21. "CATALOG 2007-2009 Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine ." East Mississippi Community College. 10 (10/147). Retrieved on March 1, 2011.
22. Lewis, Herbert J. "Jim" (July 25, 2012). "Samuel Dale". Encyclopedia of Alabama.

External links

• Lauderdale County, MS
• Meridian/Lauderdale County Tourism Bureau
• Mississippi Courthouses – Lauderdale County

32°24′N88°40′W / 32.40°N 88.66°W / 32.40; -88.66