Meadville is a town in and the county seat of Franklin 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 ...

, United States, in the southwest part of the state. The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 519 at the 2000 census. It is situated north of the

Homochitto River The Homochitto River (pronounced "ho-muh-CHIT-uh") is a river in the U.S. State of Mississippi. It flows from its source in southwest Mississippi for about west and south, emptying into the Mississippi River between Natchez and Woodville. Acco ...

, which runs from the northeast to the southwest through the county on its way to its outlet at the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

. It is home of a chess center, covered in

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

story aired March 26, 2017, involving chess coach Jeff Bulington.

History

The town was named after

Cowles Mead Cowles Mead (October 18, 1776 – May 17, 1844) was a United States representative from Georgia. Born in Virginia, he received an English education and became a private practice lawyer. He presented credentials as a member-elect to the 9th Uni ...

, a 19th-century political leader. This town developed as a trading center for the agricultural county, which had an early economy based on the cultivation of cotton. Court days also attracted farmers and their customers. The county is still largely rural.

Geography

Meadville is located in the center of Franklin County at (31.472998, -90.890856). U.S. Routes 98 and 84 bypass the town to the south. US 84 leads east to Brookhaven, and US 98 leads southeast to McComb. Together the highways lead west to Natchez. 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 th ...

, Meadville has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

The town had its peak of population in 1960. As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, there were 448 people, 230 households, and 144 families residing in the town.

Race and ethnicity

In 2000, the racial makeup of the town was 82.85%

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 ...

, 15.41%

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 ...

, 0.77% Asian, and 0.96% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 0.58% of the population. By 2020, its racial and ethnic makeup was 80.13% non-Hispanic white, 15.63% African American, 0.45% Native American, 3.13% mixed, and 0.67% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Education

Meadville is served by the Franklin County School District, which includes Franklin County Elementary and a host of day cares and headstarts.

Notable people

Greg Briggs Greg Briggs (born October 19, 1968) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. He was also a member of the Frankfurt Galaxy in Frankf ...

, former NFL

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

Leonard Caston Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston (June 2, 1917 – August 22, 1987) was an American blues pianist and guitarist. He is best noted for the tracks "Blues at Midnight" and "I'm Gonna Walk Your Log". Life and career Leonard Caston Sr. was born in Su ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

* Charles Marcus Edwards, confessed murderer and member of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

* Dick Jones, former Major League Baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Pat McGehee Patrick Henry McGehee (July 2, 1888 – December 30, 1946) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in one game for the Detroit Tigers on August 23, . He faced two batters, and allowed one hit and one Base on balls A base on balls (BB), ...

, former Major League Baseball pitcher *

Carl Weathersby Carl Weathersby (born Carlton Weathersby; 24 February 1953, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American electric blues vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He has worked with Albert King and Billy Branch, among others. He is now a solo artist. He was ...

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter * Pete Young, former Major League Baseball pitcher

References

External links

Town of Meadville official website
{{authority control Towns in Franklin County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi County seats in Mississippi