Washington County, Mississippi

Washington County, Mississippi
Map of Mississippi highlighting Washington County
Location in the U.S. state of Mississippi
Map of the United States highlighting Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Founded 1827
Named for George Washington
Seat Greenville
Largest city Greenville
Area
 • Total 761 sq mi (1,971 km2)
 • Land 725 sq mi (1,878 km2)
 • Water 36 sq mi (93 km2), 4.8%
Population
 • (2010) 51,137
 • Density 71/sq mi (27/km2)
Congressional district 2nd
Time zone Central: UTC−6/−5
Website www.washingtoncounty.ms

Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,137.[1] Its county seat is Greenville.[2] The county is named in honor of the first President of the United States, George Washington.

The Greenville, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Washington County. It is located in the Mississippi Delta.

History

Located in the Mississippi Delta, Washington County was first developed for cotton cultivation in the antebellum years. Most plantations were developed to have access to the rivers, which were the major transportation routes. Cotton was based on the labor of enslaved African Americans. Greenville was designated as the county seat, and its leading planters and professional men became influential in state affairs.

In the period from 1877 to 1950, Washington County had 12 documented lynchings of African Americans.[3] Most occurred around the turn of the 20th century, as part of white imposition of Jim Crow conditions and suppression of black voting.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 761 square miles (1,970 km2), of which 725 square miles (1,880 km2) is land and 36 square miles (93 km2) (4.8%) is water.[4]

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18301,976—
18407,287268.8%
18508,38915.1%
186015,67986.9%
187014,569−7.1%
188025,36774.1%
189040,41459.3%
190049,21621.8%
191048,933−0.6%
192051,0924.4%
193054,3106.3%
194067,57624.4%
195070,5044.3%
196078,63811.5%
197070,581−10.2%
198072,3442.5%
199067,935−6.1%
200062,977−7.3%
201051,137−18.8%
Est. 201647,231[5]−7.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2013[1]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 51,137 people residing in the county. 71.3% were Black or African American, 27.0% White, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Native American, 0.4% of some other race and 0.6% of two or more races. 1.0% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 62,977 people, 22,158 households, and 15,931 families residing in the county. The population density was 87 people per square mile (34/km²). There were 24,381 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 69.57% Black or African American, 33.97% White, 0.09% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 0.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the census[10] of 2000, the largest ancestry groups in Washington County were African 69.57%, English 21.4%, Scottish 8.2% and Scots-Irish 3.1%

Washington County by 2005 was 67.2% African-American in population. Latinos constituted 1.1% of the population in the county while non-Hispanic whites made up 31.7% of the population.

As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 22,158 households out of which 36.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.60% were married couples living together, 26.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the county, the population was spread out with 31.50% under the age of 18, 10.10% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 20.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 87.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $25,757, and the median income for a family was $30,324. Males had a median income of $28,266 versus $20,223 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,430. About 24.90% of families and 29.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.40% of those under age 18 and 24.60% of those age 65 or over.

Washington County's demographics are rooted in the region's mid-nineteenth-century ascendance in cotton production and, accordingly, importation of people as slaves. According to the historian Sven Beckert, the county had "more than ten slaves for every white inhabitant" in 1840, and "every white family in the county held on average more than eighty slaves" by 1850.[11]

Transportation

Major highways

Airport

Mid Delta Regional Airport, owned by the City of Greenville, is located in an unincorporated area in the county.[12]

Education

Pillow Academy in unincorporated Leflore County, near Greenwood, enrolls some students from Washington County.[13] It originally was a segregation academy.[14]

Communities

Cities

Towns

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Politics

Presidential elections results
Presidential elections results[15]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2016 31.2% 5,244 67.6% 11,380 1.2% 201
2012 28.7% 5,651 70.9% 13,981 0.4% 83
2008 32.4% 6,347 67.1% 13,148 0.5% 88
2004 39.5% 7,731 59.0% 11,569 1.5% 297
2000 40.2% 7,367 56.8% 10,405 3.0% 556
1996 38.8% 6,762 57.6% 10,053 3.6% 625
1992 38.6% 7,598 53.8% 10,588 7.6% 1,503
1988 49.5% 10,229 49.4% 10,222 1.1% 236
1984 53.2% 12,454 45.3% 10,617 1.5% 343
1980 44.6% 8,978 53.3% 10,722 2.1% 417
1976 41.2% 7,474 53.2% 9,650 5.7% 1,025
1972 63.8% 9,634 30.6% 4,623 5.6% 847
1968 22.9% 3,500 36.0% 5,520 41.1% 6,300
1964 73.7% 5,611 26.3% 2,004
1960 34.4% 2,292 46.7% 3,105 18.9% 1,258
1956 35.9% 1,973 49.6% 2,722 14.5% 795
1952 55.8% 3,301 44.2% 2,618
1948 9.1% 271 8.7% 260 82.2% 2,448
1944 18.4% 454 81.6% 2,012
1940 11.1% 292 88.9% 2,349 0.0% 1
1936 4.2% 94 95.6% 2,143 0.2% 4
1932 5.6% 100 94.2% 1,691 0.2% 4
1928 14.1% 246 85.9% 1,496
1924 10.1% 143 89.8% 1,277 0.1% 2
1920 7.2% 60 92.7% 776 0.1% 1
1916 5.3% 47 94.4% 836 0.3% 3
1912 2.4% 20 88.4% 731 9.2% 76

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. ↑ Lynching in America, 3rd edition, Supplement by County, p. 6
  4. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  6. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  11. ↑ Beckert, Sven (2014). Empire of Cotton: a Global History. New York: Knopf.
  12. ↑ "Greenville city, Mississippi Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine.." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 15, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Profile of Pillow Academy 2010-2011 Archived 2001-12-01 at the Library of Congress Web Archives." Pillow Academy. Retrieved on March 25, 2012.
  14. ↑ Lynch, Adam (18 November 2009). "Ceara's Season". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  15. ↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2018-03-04.

Further reading

  • Russell S. Hall, Princella W. Nowell, and Stacy Childress, Washington County, Mississippi. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
  • Bern Keating, A History of Washington County, Mississippi. Greenville, MS: Greenville Junior Auxiliary, 1976.
  • John L. McCoy, Factors Associated with Level-of-Living in Washington County, Mississippi. US Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin no. 1501. Washington, DC: US Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 1974.
  • William Bert Thompson, A History of the Greenville, Mississippi, Public Schools under the Administration of E.E. Bass, 1884-1932. MA thesis. University, MS: University of Mississippi, 1968.

Coordinates: 33°17′N 90°57′W / 33.29°N 90.95°W / 33.29; -90.95

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