Rolling Fork, Mississippi

Rolling Fork, Mississippi
City and county seat
Welcome sign (2022)
Location within Sharkey County and Mississippi
Coordinates: 32°54′23″N90°52′41″W / 32.90639°N 90.87806°W / 32.90639; -90.87806 [1]
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Sharkey
Area [2]
• Total	1.41 sq mi (3.66 km2)
• Land	1.41 sq mi (3.66 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation [1]	105 ft (32 m)
Population  (2020) [3]
• Total	1,883
• Density	1,333.57/sq mi (515.07/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code	39159
Area code	662
FIPS code	28-63560 [1]
GNIS ID	694602 [1]

Rolling Fork is a city and county seat of Sharkey County, Mississippi, United States. ^[1] As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 1,883. ^[3]

History

Illinois Central Railroad depot in Rolling Fork

Thomas Y. Chaney located here in 1828, and was the first European-American settler in the area. The Choctaw, longtime indigenous occupants, had been forced out by new settler pressure and government treaties to gain their land.

Deer Creek flows through the settlement. Chaney called the place "Rolling Fork" because of the swiftness of the water at a fork in the creek there. ^[4] A post office was established in 1848. ^[4]

When Sharkey County was established in 1876, during the Reconstruction era, Rolling Fork was made the county seat. A newspaper, The Deer Creek Pilot, was established in 1884. ^[4]

The Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway was built through Rolling Fork in 1883. It was later acquired by the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1908, the Bank of Rolling Fork was established. ^[4]

Since 2002, the town has hosted an annual October festival called the Great Delta Bear Affair, originally commemorating President Theodore Roosevelt’s bear hunt in 1902 in Sharkey County. During each festival, an artist carves a new wooden statue of a bear which is then added to the town's streets. ^{[5] [6]}

2023 tornado

Further information: 2023 Rolling Fork–Silver City tornado

A water tower in Rolling Fork, destroyed by the March 24, 2023 tornado

On March 24, 2023, shortly after 8:00 p.m. CDT, Rolling Fork was struck by a destructive and deadly high end EF4 tornado, with winds of 195 mph. The tornado formed from a supercell thunderstorm in northern Issaquena County, whereupon it moved northeast towards and into Rolling Fork. The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for the community shortly before the storm entered the town and dealt catastrophic damage to many structures. The town's post office, city hall, and police department lost parts of or the entirety of their roofs. Multiple businesses—some of metal or brick construction—were completely destroyed, in addition to dozens of houses and mobile homes. One of the town's water towers was blown over, two grain trucks were thrown into each other, power lines were knocked down, and trees were uprooted, some even debarked. The tornado killed 17 people in Rolling Fork and nearby Midnight and Silver City, while injuring 165 more. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Following the tornado, Rolling Fork's existing tornado siren was repaired and a new siren was donated and installed on the opposite side of the town. ^[10]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all land.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	91		—
1920	703		—
1930	902		28.3%
1940	1,320		46.3%
1950	1,229		−6.9%
1960	1,619		31.7%
1970	2,034		25.6%
1980	2,590		27.3%
1990	2,444		−5.6%
2000	2,486		1.7%
2010	2,143		−13.8%
2020	1,883		−12.1%
U.S. Decennial Census [11]

Welcome carving (2008)

2020 census

Rolling Fork Racial Composition ^[12]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	423	22.46%
Black or African American	1,392	73.92%
Asian	4	0.21%
Pacific Islander	3	0.16%
Other/Mixed	38	2.02%
Hispanic or Latino	23	1.22%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 1,883 people, 857 households, and 498 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the census ^[13] of 2000, there were 2,486 people, 820 households, and 620 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,774.2 inhabitants per square mile (685.0/km²). There were 875 housing units at an average density of 624.5 per square mile (241.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was

• 69.19% African American,
• 29.69% White,
• 0.04% Native American,
• 0.32% Asian, and 0.76% from two or more races.
• Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population.

There were 820 households, out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 32.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% were non-families. Of all households, 22.2% were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.40.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.8% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,081, and the median income for a family was $24,911. Males had a median income of $25,729 versus $17,065 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,481. About 30.6% of families and 37.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 50.0% of those under age 18 and 24.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public schools

The city of Rolling Fork is served by the South Delta School District. The district has three schools with a total enrollment of approximately 1,300 students.

Private schools

• Sharkey-Issaquena Academy

Notable people

• Robert Colby, songwriter and theater producer
• Tommy Davidson, actor and professional comedian
• Johnny Dyer, blues musician
• Jack Holmes, professional football player
• Larry Smith, professional basketball player
• Willie Mae Ford Smith, gospel singer
• Slick Watts, professional basketball player
• Fielding L. Wright, Governor of Mississippi and 1948 vice-presidential candidate

References

1. "Rolling Fork, Mississippi", Geographic Names Information System , United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior
2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
3. "Profile of Rolling Fork, Mississippi in 2020". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
4. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (PDF). Vol. 2. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 575.
5. Harrison, Heather (September 1, 2023). "Rolling Fork Residents Still Waiting on Temporary Housing Five Months After Tornado". Mississippi Free Press. Archived from the original on September 14, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
6. "The Great Delta Bear Affair Festival in Rolling Fork, Mississippi". greatdeltabearaffair.org. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
7. Will McDuffie; Peter Charalambous; Kevin Shalvey (March 25, 2023). "19 dead as 'destructive' tornado, storms batter Mississippi, officials say". ABC News. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
8. Charalambous, Peter; Shalvey, Kevin; El-Bawab, Nadine (March 25, 2023). "'Leveled': Responders, residents describe horror of Mississippi tornado destruction". ABC News . Retrieved March 25, 2023.
9. National Weather Service in Jackson, Mississippi (March 27, 2023). NWS Damage Survey for March 24 tornado event (Report). Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
10. Nolan, Madeleine (May 10, 2023). "New tornado siren installed, old one repaired in Rolling Fork". WAPT . Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
11. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
12. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.