Jefferson County, Mississippi
County in Mississippi, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,260,[1] making it the fourth-least populous county in Mississippi. Its first county seat was located at Old Greenville until 1825, which no longer exists,[2] before moving to Fayette.[3] The county is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.[4] One of the first of two counties organized in the Mississippi Territory in 1798 along with Adams County, it was first named Pickering County and included what would become Claiborne County.[5] Originally developed as cotton plantations in the antebellum era, the rural county has struggled with a declining economy and reduced population since the mechanization of agriculture and urbanization of other areas. In 2020, its population of 7,260 was roughly one-third of the population peak in 1900. Within the United States, in 2009 rural Jefferson County had the highest percentage of African-Americans of any county. It was the fourth-poorest county in the nation.[6]
Jefferson County | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi | |
 Mississippi's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 31°44′N 91°02′W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Mississippi |
| Founded | 1799 |
| Named for | Thomas Jefferson |
| Seat | Fayette |
| Largest city | Fayette |
| Area | |
• Total | 527 sq mi (1,360 km2) |
| • Land | 520 sq mi (1,300 km2) |
| • Water | 7.3 sq mi (19 km2) 1.4% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,260 |
• Estimate (2023) | 6,941  |
| • Density | 14/sq mi (5.3/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Website | www |
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 527 square miles (1,360 km2), of which 520 square miles (1,300 km2) is land and 7.3 square miles (19 km2) (1.4%) is water.[7]
Major highways
Adjacent counties
- Claiborne County (north)
- Copiah County (northeast)
- Lincoln County (southeast)
- Franklin County (south)
- Adams County (southwest)
- Tensas Parish, Louisiana (west)
National protected areas
- Homochitto National Forest (part)
- Natchez Trace Parkway (part)
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 2,940 | — | |
| 1810 | 4,001 | 36.1% | |
| 1820 | 6,822 | 70.5% | |
| 1830 | 9,755 | 43.0% | |
| 1840 | 11,650 | 19.4% | |
| 1850 | 13,193 | 13.2% | |
| 1860 | 15,349 | 16.3% | |
| 1870 | 13,848 | −9.8% | |
| 1880 | 17,314 | 25.0% | |
| 1890 | 18,947 | 9.4% | |
| 1900 | 21,292 | 12.4% | |
| 1910 | 18,221 | −14.4% | |
| 1920 | 15,946 | −12.5% | |
| 1930 | 14,291 | −10.4% | |
| 1940 | 13,969 | −2.3% | |
| 1950 | 11,306 | −19.1% | |
| 1960 | 10,142 | −10.3% | |
| 1970 | 9,295 | −8.4% | |
| 1980 | 9,181 | −1.2% | |
| 1990 | 8,653 | −5.8% | |
| 2000 | 9,740 | 12.6% | |
| 2010 | 7,726 | −20.7% | |
| 2020 | 7,260 | −6.0% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 6,941 | [8] | −4.4% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1960[10] 1900-1990[11] 1990-2000[12] 2010-2013[13] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White | 891 | 12.27% |
| Black or African American | 6,138 | 84.55% |
| Native American | 10 | 0.14% |
| Asian | 14 | 0.19% |
| Pacific Islander | 5 | 0.07% |
| Other/Mixed | 128 | 1.76% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 74 | 1.02% |
As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 7,260 people, 2,448 households, and 1,488 families residing in the county.
Jefferson County School District operates public schools in all of the county.[15]
It is in the district of Copiah–Lincoln Community College, and has been since 1967.[16]
City
- Fayette (county seat)
Unincorporated communities
Ghost towns or defunct
Jefferson County is overwhelmingly Democratic, and has supported Democratic candidates in presidential elections with at least 80% of the vote since Bill Clinton in 1992, who won 79%. Republicans have not garnered even 25% of the vote in presidential elections since 1972 (when Jefferson was one of only three counties in Mississippi to vote for George McGovern).
The last Republican to win the county was Barry Goldwater. Although Goldwater lost nationally in a landslide, he carried the state of Mississippi (and also Jefferson County) in a landslide, winning over 87% of the vote and carrying every county. [note 1] Jefferson County supported him with 95% of the vote. Goldwater's lopsided victory was the result of Mississippi's decades-long suppression of the voting rights of African Americans, which only began to be reversed with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[note 2]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2020 | 531 | 13.59% | 3,327 | 85.13% | 50 | 1.28% |
| 2016 | 490 | 12.69% | 3,337 | 86.45% | 33 | 0.85% |
| 2012 | 468 | 10.56% | 3,951 | 89.13% | 14 | 0.32% |
| 2008 | 551 | 12.30% | 3,883 | 86.71% | 44 | 0.98% |
| 2004 | 630 | 18.16% | 2,821 | 81.32% | 18 | 0.52% |
| 2000 | 600 | 17.61% | 2,786 | 81.75% | 22 | 0.65% |
| 1996 | 489 | 15.68% | 2,531 | 81.15% | 99 | 3.17% |
| 1992 | 562 | 15.96% | 2,796 | 79.39% | 164 | 4.66% |
| 1988 | 702 | 20.64% | 2,693 | 79.18% | 6 | 0.18% |
| 1984 | 856 | 21.88% | 3,049 | 77.94% | 7 | 0.18% |
| 1980 | 751 | 20.17% | 2,871 | 77.09% | 102 | 2.74% |
| 1976 | 782 | 22.83% | 2,562 | 74.78% | 82 | 2.39% |
| 1972 | 1,131 | 43.37% | 1,457 | 55.87% | 20 | 0.77% |
| 1968 | 147 | 4.35% | 2,121 | 62.75% | 1,112 | 32.90% |
| 1964 | 1,258 | 94.80% | 69 | 5.20% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 137 | 12.52% | 229 | 20.93% | 728 | 66.54% |
| 1956 | 189 | 19.65% | 440 | 45.74% | 333 | 34.62% |
| 1952 | 610 | 53.09% | 539 | 46.91% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 14 | 1.41% | 15 | 1.51% | 967 | 97.09% |
| 1944 | 25 | 3.16% | 766 | 96.84% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 7 | 0.87% | 801 | 99.13% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 9 | 1.01% | 884 | 98.88% | 1 | 0.11% |
| 1932 | 24 | 3.07% | 753 | 96.29% | 5 | 0.64% |
| 1928 | 63 | 7.05% | 830 | 92.95% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 50 | 9.14% | 497 | 90.86% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1920 | 14 | 3.15% | 430 | 96.63% | 1 | 0.22% |
| 1916 | 3 | 0.65% | 456 | 99.13% | 1 | 0.22% |
| 1912 | 2 | 0.46% | 408 | 94.66% | 21 | 4.87% |
- Abijah Hunt, merchant who lived in Old Greenville during the Territorial Period, and owned a chain of stores and public cotton gins along the Natchez Trace[21]
- David Hunt, Antebellum planter who lived on Woodlawn Plantation in Jefferson County, and became one of 12 planter millionaires in the Natchez District before the American Civil War.
- Zachary Taylor, U.S. president, planter, and soldier who often stayed on his plantation, Cypress Grove in Jefferson County, between 1840 and 1848.
- "Despite all of this progress, the South remained segregated, especially when it came to the polls, where African Americans faced violence and intimidation when they attempted to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Poll taxes and literacy tests designed to silence Black voters were common. Without access to the polls, political change in favor of civil rights was slow-to-non-existent. Mississippi was chosen as the site of the Freedom Summer project due to its historically low levels of African American voter registration; in 1962 less than 7 percent of the state's eligible Black voters were registered to vote."[19]
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