Baldwyn, Mississippi

"Baldwyn" redirects here. For the Baldwyn meteorite of 1922, see Meteorite falls.

Baldwyn, Mississippi
City
City of Baldwyn
Downtown Baldwyn
Flag Seal
Motto:  "Where Tradition Touches Tomorrow"
Location in Lee and Prentiss counties and the state of Mississippi
Baldwyn Location of Baldwyn in the US Show map of Mississippi Baldwyn Baldwyn (the United States) Show map of the United States Baldwyn Baldwyn (North America) Show map of North America
Coordinates: 34°30′12″N88°38′02″W / 34.50333°N 88.63389°W / 34.50333; -88.63389
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Counties	Lee Prentiss
Incorporated	April 1, 1861 (163 years ago) (1861-04-01)
Government [1]
• Type	Mayor–Council
•  Mayor	Roslynn Clark[ citation needed ] (D)
•  Board of Aldermen	Members[ citation needed ] Angeleque Agnew-Beene Tonya Billips Phil Rowan Ricky Massengill Lynda Conlee
Area [2]
• Total	11.64 sq mi (30.15 km2)
• Land	11.59 sq mi (30.03 km2)
• Water	0.05 sq mi (0.12 km2)
Elevation [3]	374 ft (114 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,071
• Density	264.88/sq mi (102.27/km2)
Time zone	UTC−06:00 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−05:00 (CDT)
ZIP code(s)	38824, 38849
Area code(s)	662
FIPS code	28-02700
GNIS feature ID	2403150 [3]
Highways	U.S. Highway 45 Highway 145 Highway 370
Major airport	Memphis Airport (MEM)
Website	Official website

Baldwyn is a city located in Lee and Prentiss counties, Mississippi, located in the northern part of the Tupelo micropolitan area. ^[3] The population was 3,071 at the 2020 census.

History

Located five miles north of Guntown, the main street of Baldwyn runs along the county line of Lee and Prentiss counties. Baldwyn has the unusual distinction of having been incorporated in four counties. It was incorporated by an act of the Legislature in Tishomingo and Itawamba counties on April 1, 1861. Lee county was formed from parts of Itawamba and Pontotoc on October 26, 1866, while Tishomingo was divided into Alcorn, Prentiss, and Tishomingo on April 15, 1870. ^[4]

Baldwyn is an outgrowth of the village of Carrollville: when the Mobile and Ohio Railroad was being built during the years of 1848 to 1861, it missed Carrollville by one and one-half miles and the citizens moved to the new town of Baldwyn, which was named for the civil engineer who surveyed the road through the town. Tishomingo, chief of the Chickasaw nation, lived at Carrollville but died near Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1839 of smallpox while being moved west with his tribe. ^[4]

Geography

In the 2000 census, 1,892 of the city's 3,321 residents (57.0%) lived in Prentiss county and 1,429 (43.0%) in Lee county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.6 square miles (30.0 km²), of which 11.5 square miles (29.9 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.43%) is water. ^[5]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	133		—
1880	477		258.6%
1900	560		—
1910	787		40.5%
1920	922		17.2%
1930	1,106		20.0%
1940	1,279		15.6%
1950	1,567		22.5%
1960	2,023		29.1%
1970	2,366		17.0%
1980	3,427		44.8%
1990	3,204		−6.5%
2000	3,321		3.7%
2010	3,297		−0.7%
2020	3,071		−6.9%
U.S. Decennial Census [6]

2020 census

Baldwyn Racial Composition ^[7]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White	1,512	49.23%
Black or African American	1,443	46.99%
Native American	6	0.2%
Asian	11	0.36%
Pacific Islander	1	0.03%
Other/Mixed	68	2.21%
Hispanic or Latino	30	0.98%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 3,071 people, 1,162 households, and 680 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the census ^[8] of 2000, there were 3,321 people, 1,331 households, and 886 families residing in the city. The population density was 287.9 sq mi). There were 1,472 housing units at an average density of 127.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 54.53% White, 43.87% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.30% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.99% of the population.

There were 1,331 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were married couples living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,016, and the median income for a family was $37,598. Males had a median income of $27,162 versus $21,174 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,430. About 19.9% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.9% of those under age 18 and 23.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Baldwyn is served by the Baldwyn School District.

Infrastructure

The Booneville/Baldwyn Airport is owned by the cities of Booneville and Baldwyn. It is located in Prentiss county, six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) southwest of Booneville's central business district. ^[9]

Notable people

• Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush, secretary of the Democratic National Committee from 1944 to 1980 ^[10]
• Elijah Allen Cox, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi from 1929 to 1974 ^[11]
• Tim Ford (1951-2015), Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1988 to 2004
• Babe McCarthy (October 1, 1923 – March 17, 1975), was an American professional and collegiate basketball coach
• Laura Pendergest-Holt (born 1973), convicted Ponzi scheme artist, financier, and former Chief Investment Officer of Stanford Financial Group
• Elijah Pierce (1892-1984), American woodcarver
• Paul A. G. Stewart, 50th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church ^[12]
• W. H. H. Tison, 39th speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Murdered while in office in downtown Baldwyn. ^[13]

See also

• Cities portal
• Mississippi portal

• Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site
• List of municipalities in Mississippi
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lee County, Mississippi

References

1. "Baldwyn: General Information". Baldwyn, Mississippi. Jeff McDaniel Marketing. n.d. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Baldwyn, Mississippi
4. Brieger, James F., ed. (1980). Hometown Mississippi. Historical and Genealogical Association of Mississippi. p. 291.
5. "Subcounty population estimates: Mississippi 2000-2006". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. June 28, 2007. Archived from the original (CSV) on November 26, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
6. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
7. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
8. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
9. FAA Airport Form 5010 for 8M1 PDF . Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 30 June 2011.
10. Rothe, Anna, ed. (1948). "Biography of Dorothy Vredenburgh". Current Biography, Who's News and Why. New York, New York: H.W. Wilson Co. pp. 649–650. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
11. Judges of the United States (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Bicentennial Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. 1983. p. 109.
12. "The CME College of Bishops - Bishop Paul A. G. Stewart, Sr". thecmechurch.org. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
13. Mississippi in 1875. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1876. p. 384.

External links

• Official website
• The Baldwyn News paper
• Baldwyn, Mississippi at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation