Mayhew is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Lowndes County,

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 ...

. Mayhew is located at west of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, north of Artesia, east of Starkville and south of West Point. According to the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

, a variant name is ''Mayhew Station''. Mayhew Station was the original name given to this community when it was moved from its original site (near Muldrow, Mississippi) to alongside the tracks of the newly built Mobile and Ohio Railroad (later Gulf, Mobile & Ohio) in the very early 1850s. The original location of the town of Mayhew is now referred to as Old Mayhew, but only a cemetery exists there today. Mayhew held the distinction for most of the 20th century as being home to Stover Apiaries, the world's largest queen bee apiary, which shipped queen bees to beekeepers worldwide. Mayhew is also referred to as Mayhew Junction, or more commonly as "The Crossroads" by area residents, a reference to when US Highways 82 and 45 crossed as at-grade two-lane highways. Before the construction of the new US 82 and the expansion of US 45 to four lanes, the intersection of the original highways was a four way stop. Several bars and service stations, catering to students from the nearby

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, lined the four sides of the original intersection and were torn down when the new expressways were built over a period of several years between 1975 and 1995. The East Mississippi Community College Golden Triangle Campus is in Mayhew.CATALOG 2007-2009
." East Mississippi Community College. 10 (10/147). Retrieved on March 1, 2011. Mayhew mission graveyard

In 1818, Mayhew Mission was established at Mayhew by Presbyterians from Massachusetts under Cyrus Kingsbury for the purpose of Christianizing and educating the Choctaw Indians. The population of Mayhew Mission quickly declined after the

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

was signed and the Choctaw people were forced to relocate on the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

. In 1960, seven black men from Little Rock used a restroom at Weaver's Amoco in Osborn, where there was only one restroom, which was for whites only. They were arrested in Mayhew and required to pay a $200 per person bond. According to the law, they faced a maximum penalty of six months in jail and fines of $500 each. The case was widely anticipated as the first test of the state's sit-in law, but was settled when the defendants unexpectedly pleaded guilty and paid a small fine in Starkville the next day.

References

* Unincorporated communities in Lowndes County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Mississippi {{LowndesCountyMS-geo-stub