History
Paulding was settled by European Americans in 1833, during the period of Indian Removal in the Southeast. The new settlers named the community for John Paulding, a local citizen who had aided in the capture of the British spy, Major Andre during the Revolutionary War. Andre was the British Adjutant who conspired with Benedict Arnold in the betrayal of West Point, New York during the Revolutionary War. [2]
In the nineteenth century Paulding had a population of more than 1,000 and was called "the Queen City of the East." Its elite were planters with cotton plantations, but many residents did not own slaves and were yeoman farmers. As plantations were developed to the west in Mississippi and Louisiana, this area of the state lost some population. The community's first courthouse was built from local materials.
In the late nineteenth century, developers sought local investors to support construction of a railroad through Paulding, but the planters had suffered with a low cotton market and could not invest in the project.
The railroad company shifted the route to the west of the county, creating a stop at Bay Springs, Mississippi, where a sawmill had been built in 1880. The railroad supported development of the timber industry in this area, as well as trade. The town was incorporated as a city about 1900. After it was designated by the state legislature as the second county seat in 1906, a new, much larger county courthouse was built there. The city was the center of businesses exploiting the yellow pine timber resources. [2] [3]
The original courthouse in Paulding burned in 1932, causing the loss of many records. A new courthouse was built, as Paulding remains one of the two state-designated county seats for Jasper County. [3]
Paulding has a smaller courthouse and shared government facilities. Being bypassed by the railroad cost it future commercial and industrial development, and its population declined from the former peak in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the split county circuit initially had merit, given the eastern/western separation of Jasper County by roadways and relative isolation of the time due to limited transportation, since the 1930s the dual seats have likely been maintained for primarily political reasons.
In 1935-36 the first east-west road across the county was constructed between Bay Springs (west) and Rose Hill (in the east, just north of Paulding), which improved cross-county travel. But the routing of the roadway through Rose Hill increased the relative isolation of Paulding. [2] [3] As of the 2010 census, Paulding's population is 90 percent African American; Bay Springs' population is 50 percent African American.
Morris County is a county located near the eastern border of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,973. Its county seat is Daingerfield. Morris County is probably named for William Wright Morris, an early judge and planter from Henderson, also in northeast Texas. As of 2016, Morris County is no longer one of six entirely dry, prohibition counties in the state of Texas. Morris County is "partially wet."
Yalobusha County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,481. It has two county seats, Water Valley and Coffeeville.
Wilkinson County is a county located in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2020, its population was 8,587. Its county seat is Woodville. Bordered by the Mississippi River on the west, the county is named for James Wilkinson, a Revolutionary War military leader and first governor of the Louisiana Territory after its acquisition by the United States in 1803.
Jasper County is located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. At the 2020 census, the population was 16,367. In 1906, the state legislature established two county courts, one at the first county seat of Paulding in the eastern part of the county and also one at Bay Springs in the west, where the railroad had been constructed. Jasper County is part of the Laurel, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Claiborne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,135. Its county seat is Port Gibson. The county is named after William Claiborne, the second governor of the Mississippi Territory.
Wilkes County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,565. The county seat is the city of Washington.
Stewart County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,314. The county seat is Lumpkin. The county was created on December 23, 1830.
Lowndes County is a county located in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 118,251. The county seat is Valdosta. The county was created December 23, 1825.
Jasper County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,588, up from 13,900 in 2010. The county seat is Monticello. Jasper County is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell MSA.
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Port Gibson is a city in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 census. Port Gibson is the county seat of Claiborne County, which is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. It is the site of the Claiborne County Courthouse.
Bay Springs is a city in and the western county seat of Jasper County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,670 at the 2020 census, down from 1,786 at the 2010 census. State highways 15 and 18 intersect at the city. It is part of the Laurel, Mississippi micropolitan area.
Ellisville is a town in and the first county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 4,448 at the time of the 2010 census, up from 3,465 at the 2000 census. The Jones County Courthouse is located here, as is much of the county government.
Sumner is a town in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. The population was 407 at the 2000 census. Sumner is one of the two county seats of Tallahatchie County. It is located on the west side of the county and the Tallahatchie River, which runs through the county north–south. The other county seat is Charleston, located east of the river. Charleston was the first county seat, as settlement came from the east, and it is the larger of the two towns.
Edgefield is a town in and the county seat of Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census.
The history of the state of Mississippi extends back to thousands of years of indigenous peoples. Evidence of their cultures has been found largely through archeological excavations, as well as existing remains of earthwork mounds built thousands of years ago. Native American traditions were kept through oral histories; with Europeans recording the accounts of historic peoples they encountered. Since the late 20th century, there have been increased studies of the Native American tribes and reliance on their oral histories to document their cultures. Their accounts have been correlated with evidence of natural events.
Homer is an unincorporated community in Angelina County, Texas, United States, southeast of Lufkin, in Deep East Texas. It was reported to have a population of approximately 360 in the early 1990s through 2000. It is located within the Lufkin, Texas micropolitan area.
Holly Bluff is a small unincorporated community in Yazoo County, Mississippi.
Stephen Duncan was an American planter and banker in Mississippi. He was born and studied medicine in Pennsylvania, but moved to Natchez District, Mississippi Territory in 1808 and became the wealthiest cotton planter and the second-largest slave owner in the United States with over 2,200 slaves. He owned 15 cotton and sugar plantations, served as President of the Bank of Mississippi, and held major investments in railroads and lumber.
Benjamin Chaires Sr. (1786–1838) was an American planter, land owner, banker and investor in Territorial Florida, and may have been the richest man in Florida in the 1830s. He was involved in the creation of the first railroads in Florida.
