Okolona, Mississippi | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 34°0′21″N88°45′2″W / 34.00583°N 88.75056°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Mississippi |
County | Chickasaw |
Government | |
• Mayor | Eldridge Lowe |
Area | |
• Total | 7.19 sq mi (18.63 km2) |
• Land | 7.18 sq mi (18.59 km2) |
• Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.04 km2) |
Elevation | 338 ft (103 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 2,513 |
• Density | 350.15/sq mi (135.18/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP code | 38860 |
Area code | 662 |
FIPS code | 28-53680 |
GNIS feature ID | 0694253 |
Website | www |
Okolona is a city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. [2] It is located near the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,692 at the 2010 census. [3] It had a large furniture industry and the Wilson Park resort. [4]
Okolona was named as Rose Hill in 1845 early in its settlement, but residents later discovered that another location had this name. When a US post office was established here in 1850, a new name was needed to avoid confusion in mail delivery. According to the Okolona Area Chamber of Commerce, Colonel Josiah N. Walton, postmaster of nearby Aberdeen, Mississippi, remembered an encounter with a Chickasaw warrior years earlier. The man's name was Oka-laua, meaning peaceful, yellow, or blue water. Walton renamed Rose Hill as Okolona in his honor. According to another account, Okalona is a Native American placename, possible from the Choctaw, meaning "people gathered together." [5]
Due to the destruction brought to the area by the Civil War, few structures from the antebellum period remain. The Elliott-Donaldson House, constructed in 1850, survives and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. A few other homes have also survived.
In the mid nineteenth century, Okolona and the surrounding Black Prairie, sometimes called the Black Belt or Prairie Belt, became what has been called the "Bread Basket of the Confederacy". The area was part of the original Cotton Belt of Mississippi well before the more famous Delta region gained fame for major cotton production.
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad completed its tracks though Okolona in 1859, making the town a center for the ginning of cotton and its shipment to markets. The town grew along Main Street as a result of the railroad. Most commercial buildings from this period, including the depot, were burned during the Civil War.
Five skirmishes or battles between Union and Confederate forces occurred in and around Okolona. The eponymous Battle of Okolona occurred in February 1864. In a running cavalry clash between Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Union General William Sooy Smith, the Federals were defeated just north and west of town. General Forrest's brother, Jeffery, was killed in the engagement.
Okolona College was a historically black college served African Americans 1902–1965. Today it is central to the Okolona College Historic District.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.66 square miles (17.26 km2), of which 6.64 square miles (17.21 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.04 km2), or 0.23%, is water. [3]
As highways were built, they passed through the city, connecting it with other towns. This is the location of the junction of former U.S. Route 45 Alternate (Church Street) and Mississippi Highway 32 (Monroe Avenue). US-45A now bypasses the town to the east as a four-lane divided highway.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1870 | 1,410 | — | |
1880 | 1,858 | 31.8% | |
1890 | 2,099 | 13.0% | |
1900 | 2,177 | 3.7% | |
1910 | 2,584 | 18.7% | |
1920 | 3,852 | 49.1% | |
1930 | 2,235 | −42.0% | |
1940 | 2,117 | −5.3% | |
1950 | 2,167 | 2.4% | |
1960 | 2,622 | 21.0% | |
1970 | 3,002 | 14.5% | |
1980 | 3,409 | 13.6% | |
1990 | 3,267 | −4.2% | |
2000 | 3,056 | −6.5% | |
2010 | 2,692 | −11.9% | |
2020 | 2,513 | −6.6% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [6] |
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White | 490 | 19.5% |
Black or African American | 1,922 | 76.48% |
Native American | 3 | 0.12% |
Asian | 3 | 0.12% |
Other/Mixed | 64 | 2.55% |
Hispanic or Latino | 31 | 1.23% |
As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 2,513 people, 1,164 households, and 645 families residing in the city.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 2,692 people living in the city. 70.0% were African American, 27.9% White, 0.0% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.9% from some other race and 1.1% of two or more races. 1.3% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,056 people, 1,177 households, and 786 families living in the city. The population density was 481.8 inhabitants per square mile (186.0/km2). There were 1,315 housing units at an average density of 207.3 units per square mile (80.0 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 39.40% White, 59.62% African American, 0.03% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 1.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 1,177 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were married couples living together, 28.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $20,000, and the median income for a family was $32,147. Males had a median income of $26,217 versus $17,276 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,486. 35.4% of the population and 29.7% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total people living in poverty, 55.4% were under the age of 18 and 20.9% were 65 or older.
Okolona is served by the Okolona Municipal Separate School District. On February 19, 2010, the Mississippi State Board of Education voted unanimously to abolish the school district. State Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham said the conservator of the district will be Mike Vinson. [8]
Mobile County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the third-most populous county in the state after Jefferson and Madison counties. As of the 2020 census, its population was 414,809. Its county seat is Mobile, which was founded as a deepwater port on the Mobile River. The only such port in Alabama, it has long been integral to the economy for providing access to inland waterways as well as the Gulf of Mexico.
Pontotoc County is a county in the south central part of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,065. Its county seat is Ada. The county was created at statehood from part of the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory. It was named for a historic Chickasaw tribal area in Mississippi. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Pontotoc is usually translated "cattail prairie" or "land of hanging grapes."
Marshall County is a county located on the south-central border of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,312. Its county seat is Madill. The county was created at statehood in 1907 from the former Pickens County of the Chickasaw Nation. It was named to honor the maiden name of the mother of George Henshaw, a member of the 1906 Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. The county and its cities are part of the Texoma region.
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Tippah County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,815. Its county seat is Ripley. The name "Tippah" is derived from a Chickasaw language word meaning "cut off." It was taken from the creek of the same name that flows across much of the original county from northeast to southwest before emptying into the Tallahatchie River. The creek probably was so named because it, and the ridges on either side, "cut off" the western part of the region from the eastern portion.
Pontotoc County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,184. Its county seat is Pontotoc. It was created on February 9, 1836, from lands ceded to the United States under the Chickasaw Cession. Pontotoc is a Chickasaw word meaning "land of hanging grapes". The original Natchez Trace and the current-day Natchez Trace Parkway both pass through the southeast corner of Pontotoc County.
Monroe County is a county on the northeast border of the U.S. state of Mississippi next to Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,180. Its county seat is Aberdeen.
Coahoma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,390. Its county seat is Clarksdale.
Chickasaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,106. Its county seats are Houston and Okolona. The county is named for the Chickasaw people, who lived in this area for hundreds of years. Most were forcibly removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s, but some remained and became citizens of the state and the United States.
Attala County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,889. Its county seat is Kosciusko. Attala County is named for Atala, a fictional Native American heroine from an early-19th-century novel of the same name by François-René de Chateaubriand.
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