Lyon is a town in

Coahoma County Coahoma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,151. Its county seat is Clarksdale. The Clarksdale, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Coahoma County. It is loc ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 296.

History

The town is named after the French city of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

Geography

Lyon is located in east-central Coahoma County. It is bordered to the west and south by the city of Clarksdale, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. 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 418 people, 170 households, and 121 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 897.0 people per square mile (343.4/km²). There were 177 housing units at an average density of 379.8 per square mile (145.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 74.40%

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 ...

, 25.12%

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 ...

and 0.48%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

. There were 170 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% 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, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.00. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $34,375, and the median income for a family was $56,042. Males had a median income of $43,750 versus $23,611 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 $20,646. About 15.0% of families and 21.0% 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 36.9% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The town of Lyon is served by the Coahoma County School District. Residents are served by Lyon Elementary School and

Coahoma County Junior-Senior High School Coahoma County Junior-Senior High School (CCJSHS) is a public junior and senior high school within the city limits of Clarksdale, Mississippi. It is a part of the Coahoma County School District. The district serves the Coahoma County towns of ...

In popular culture

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

grew up in neighboring Clarksdale and referred to the town in his poem ''The Couple'':

I saw them often when they drove to Lyons, a ghostly pair perched on a wooden scaffold.

Notable people

Lacy Banks Lacy J. Banks (1943 – March 21, 2012) was an American sportswriter who worked for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1972 until his death. The newspaper's first African-American sportswriter, Banks covered the National Basketball Association an ...

, sportswriter for the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' * Lamar Fontaine, veteran of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

; surveyor, poet and author. * Lewis Gleeck Jr., diplomat and historian; U.S. Consul General to the Philippines from 1962 to 1968. *

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902His date of birth is a matter of some debate. House alleged that he was middle-aged during World War I and that he was 79 in 1965, which would make his date of birth around 1886. However, all legal re ...

, blues singer and guitarist *

Charles Mitchell Charles Mitchell may refer to: * Charles Mitchell (footballer), British soccer player * Charles Mitchell (academic) (born 1965), professor of law at University College, London * Charles Mitchell (American football) (born 1989), American football ...

, professional football player

References

{{authority control Towns in Coahoma County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi