Duck Hill, Mississippi
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Duck Hill is a town in
Montgomery County, Mississippi Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,925. Its county seat is Winona. The county is said to be named in honor either of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolution ...
, United States. The population was 619 at the 2020 census. Duck Hill is located on
U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south-north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Highw ...
, midway between
Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
and Winona. Big Bogue Creek flows east of the town. The Lucie E. Campbell Gospel and Heritage Festival takes place each summer in Duck Hill.


History

Duck Hill is named for a large hill northeast of the town, where "Duck", a
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
chief, held war councils. Chief Duck was also a
medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremo ...
or shaman who treated his people. A statue of Chief Duck is located on U.S. Route 51 in Duck Hill, next to an old
Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...
caboose. The first European-American settler in the area was John A. Binford in 1834, who acquired land following
Indian Removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...
of the
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
, who were forced to cede their lands to the United States. He built the first home in the area, and developed his property as a cotton plantation, based on enslaved African-American workers. He became one of the region's most successful planters and large slaveholders. Binford was elected to the
Mississippi Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 me ...
. Duck Hill was a trading center for the cotton planters. In 1856 the
Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...
completed a line from
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, and it built a depot at Duck Hill. This stimulated its businesses. The line is now used for freight operation by the
Grenada Railway The Grenada Railroad (reporting mark GRYR) is a 228-mile long (290 km) shortline railroad that runs from Southaven, Mississippi to Canton, Mississippi, along the former Illinois Central Railroad trackage. The GRYR interchanges at Canton, ...
. A train wreck occurred at Duck Hill on October 19, 1862, when in the early morning hours two trains collided head-on, killing 34 men. Most of the dead were Confederate soldiers. It was the South's worst loss of life in a train accident to that time. During the Civil War, Binford's sons, James R. and John A. Jr., helped lead the
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
"Company E" from Duck Hill, known as the "McClung Rifles". James R. Binford later was elected to the
Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...
. After white Democrats regained control of the state legislature following the
Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
, he wrote the notorious
Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
for Mississippi. In 1887, regional businessmen hoped that Duck Hill would become a thriving mill town after iron ore was found nearby. Financial speculation followed. ''Tour of our Southern Correspondent'' reported in ''The New York Times'':
Duck Hill is the euphonious appellation of a straggling wee bit of a hamlet down in the depths of Mississippi, a dozen miles or so from Grenada, on the Illinois Central Railroad, known to the world and to history in something less than a wholesale way.
Duck Hill was the site of a railroad robbery in 1888. Two armed men, Rube Burrow and Joe Jackson, clung to the outside of a train as it left the station, then climbed to the engine cab. They ordered the engineer to stop the train about a mile north of town. The robbers plundered the express car's safe of $3000, killing one man who tried to intervene.


20th century to present

In 1930, the Lloyd T. Binford High School opened in Duck Hill. (It was named for Lloyd T. Binford, son of state senator James R. Binford, who had become a
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
insurance executive and film censor. He was noted for his views on "Southern womanhood" and
white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
.) The city also built an agriculture education facility for its vocational students, who were overwhelmingly African American in the segregated system. A new elementary school was constructed in 1963. The schools have since been closed because of declining population in the town. The high school's gymnasium is used as a community center. In 2012, a committee of volunteers was established to preserve the high school, which has suffered from vandalism. During World War II, African Americans from across the country were among soldiers trained and stationed in the South. Many resented the segregation of public facilities they were forced to observe. In 1943, fifteen armed black soldiers from nearby
Camp McCain Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
came to Duck Hill during the night and began firing into the town. There were no injuries. The soldiers were upset about a recent white assault against a group of black soldiers at nearby Starkville. Senator
Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the ...
, whose father sharecropped a stretch of cotton field in Duck Hill during the 1940s, said in 1999 while supporting a bill for public education: "I am a product of public education from the first grade through the second, third, and fourth grades where I went to school at Duck Hill, Mississippi, and I had better teachers in the second, third, and fourth grades in Duck Hill, Mississippi, than I had the rest of my life."


Duck Hill lynchings of 1937

The brutal
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
of two black men, Roosevelt Townes and Robert "Bootjack" McDaniels, in Duck Hill mid-day on April 13, 1937, gained national publicity. These were among nine lynchings of African Americans by whites in
Montgomery County, Mississippi Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,925. Its county seat is Winona. The county is said to be named in honor either of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolution ...
from the post-Reconstruction period into the 20th century. Most occurred in the decades near the turn of the 20th century. The men had been arraigned in the Montgomery County Courthouse in the county seat of
Winona, Mississippi } Winona is a city in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,043 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County. Winona is known in the local area as "The Crossroads of North Mississippi"; the interse ...
, charged with murdering George Windham, a grocer in Duck Hill, in December 1936. Both men pleaded not guilty. Outside the courthouse a crowd had gathered, and then a group of 12 white men abducted the two accused men from the courthouse."Roosevelt Townes and Robert "Bootjack" McDaniels", Northeastern University's Center for Civil Rights and Restorative Justice; News Articles: "Dual Lynching Nationally Condemned" and "Mob Lynches Two Negroes Tuesday near Duck Hill"
, ''Winona Times'', April 15, 1937; accessed March 18, 2017
Townes and McDaniels were loaded into a school bus and driven to a wooded area near Duck Hill. Hundreds of white people followed, and a crowd estimated at 300-500 looked on as Townes and McDaniels were each chained to a tree. A blowtorch was used to torture them, until each confessed to Windham's murder. Gasoline was doused on Townes, and on brush around him, and he was burned to death. McDaniels was riddled with bullets, and fatally shot through the head. The police officers who had been guarding the two defendants said they were unable to identify any members of the mob. As was typical in lynching cases, no one was charged in the abduction or murders. Newspapers carried a photograph of McDaniels' burned and tortured body chained to a tree, and the lynchings were nationally condemned. German newspapers at the time used the murders for propaganda, contrasting the lynchings to controls in Nazi Germany under the "humane" Nuremberg racial laws. Such publicity enabled Joseph A. Gavagan (D-New York) to gain support for anti-lynching legislation he had put forward in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
; it was supported in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
by Democrats Robert F. Wagner (New York) and
Frederick Van Nuys Frederick Van Nuys (April 16, 1874 – January 25, 1944) was a United States senator from Indiana. Born in Falmouth, he attended the public schools and graduated from Earlham College ( Richmond, Indiana) in 1898 and from Indiana Law School ...
(Indiana). The legislation eventually passed in the House, but the white Democrats of the
Solid South The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in those states. The Southern bloc existed especial ...
(most blacks in the region were disenfranchised) blocked it in the Senate, with Senator
Allen Ellender Allen Joseph Ellender (September 24, 1890 – July 27, 1972) was an American politician and lawyer who was a U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1937 until his death. He was a Democrat who was originally allied with Huey Long. As Senator he comp ...
even proclaiming, "We shall at all cost preserve the white supremacy of America." Their colleagues had similarly defeated anti-lynching legislation in the 1920s that was passed overwhelmingly by the House.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the town has a total area of , all land.


Demographics


2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''


2000 Census

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 746 people, 307 households, and 201 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 720.8 people per square mile (279.6/km2). There were 331 housing units at an average density of 319.8 per square mile (124.1/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 63.27%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 36.06%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
and 0.67% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.80% of the population. There were 307 households, out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.11. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 69.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $24,118, and the median income for a family was $29,375. Males had a median income of $26,731 versus $15,639 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the town was $11,550. About 18.9% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 32.6% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

There are several small businesses within the town limits. Of those include a small Jiffy Mart gas station where U.S. Route 51 and Main Street intersect and a
Regions Bank Regions Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in the Regions Center (Birmingham), Regions Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The company provides retail banking and commercial banking, trust, stockbrokerage, and mortgage se ...
. In September 2009, a
Dollar General Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of April 11, 2022, Dollar General operates 18,216 stores in the continental United States. The company began in 1939 as a family-own ...
was opened adjacent to U.S. Route 51 in the north part of town.


Arts and culture

Lucie Campbell Lucie Eddie Campbell (Lucie Eddie Campbell-Williams; April 30, 1885 – January 3, 1963) was an American composer and singer of hymns, as well as an educator and advocate for social justice. Background Lucie Eddie Campbell, the youngest of ni ...
, a singer and composer of gospel music, was born in Duck Hill and a small memorial recounting her achievements in the music industry is located near the statue of Chief Duck.


Churches

The following is a list of churches in Duck Hill: * Duck Hill Missionary Baptist Church * Duck Hill Baptist Church * MT Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church * Wilkin Chapel Baptist Church * Unity Baptist Church * Sweet Home MB Church * St. Mark MB Church * Binford Chapel United Methodist * Duck Hill Church of God In Christ * Victory Apostolic Church of Duck Hill


Education

Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District serves Duck Hill and operates its schools in Winona. Duck Hill was formerly served by the
Montgomery County School District The Montgomery County School District was a public school district with its headquarters in Winona, Mississippi.Kilmichael. The Duck Hill Head Start Center is a preschool located at 620 Carrollton St. At one time Duck Hill had its own elementary school, Duck Hill Elementary School; circa 2001 it had around 100 students. At that time school district officials were considering closing it and moving the students to Kilmichael Elementary. The district also, at one time, operated Duck Hill High School. Effective July 1, 2018 the Montgomery County and Winona Separate School District consolidated into the Winona-Montgomery district.


Notable people

*
Lloyd Binford Lloyd Tilghman Binford (December 16, 1866 – August 27, 1956) was an American insurance executive and film censorship, censor who was the head of the Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis Censor Board for 28 years. The son of an infantry colonel, Binford l ...
, insurance executive and head of the Memphis Censor Board for 28 years. *
Roxcy Bolton Roxcy Pearl O'Neal Bolton ( née O'Neal) (June 3, 1926 – May 17, 2017) was an American feminist and civil rights activist. Personal life Bolton was born on June 3, 1926, in Duck Hill, Mississippi, a small town of several hundred. At a you ...
, women's rights activist. *
Lucie Campbell Lucie Eddie Campbell (Lucie Eddie Campbell-Williams; April 30, 1885 – January 3, 1963) was an American composer and singer of hymns, as well as an educator and advocate for social justice. Background Lucie Eddie Campbell, the youngest of ni ...
, composer of hymns. * Little Willie Farmer, (born June 2, 1956), blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter.


References


External links


Duck Hill website
{{Authority control Towns in Montgomery County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi Lynching deaths in Mississippi 1856 establishments in Mississippi