Shuqualak, pronounced "sugar lock", is a town in

Noxubee County Noxubee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, its population was 11,545. Its county seat is Macon. The name is derived from the Choctaw word ''nakshobi'' meaning "to stink". Geography According to ...

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. As of the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

census, the population was 399. That is down from 501 from the 2010 census. Three locations in Shuqualak, including most of the downtown area, are included on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

History

A post office was established in 1855, and the town was incorporated in 1859. Shuqualak was a stop on the

Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was a railroad in the Southern U.S. The M&O was chartered in January and February 1848 by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was planned to span the distance between the seaport of Mobil ...

, built in the 1850s. ''Shuqualak'' is a name derived from the

Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Muskogean language family. Chickasaw is separate but closely related language to Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahom ...

purported to mean "beads".

Geography

Shuqualak is located on

U.S. Route 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

, midway between

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 ...

and

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

. An auxiliary landing field for

Columbus Air Force Base Columbus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Columbus, Mississippi. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the 14th Flying Training Wing (14 FTW), which is a part of Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The resident ...

is located south of the town. The name of the auxiliary landing field is Gunshy.

Demographics

2020 census

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 of ...

, there were 399 people, 199 households, and 115 families residing in the town.

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 562 people, 214 households, and 148 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 249 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 29.72%

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 o ...

, 69.57%

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 0.71% from two or more races. There were 214 households, out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples living together, 28.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.32. In the town, the population was spread out, with 33.1% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $21,875, and the median income for a family was $26,607. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $22,596 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 $12,051. About 30.7% of families and 29.2% 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 28.1% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The Shuqualak Lumber Company was founded in 1948 and employs approximately 150. It is one of the largest privately owned, independent producers of southern yellow pine in the southeastern United States.

Education

The Town of Shuqualak is served by the Noxubee County School District. It was the site of the now defunct Shuqualak Female College, a

female seminary A female seminary is a private educational institution for women, popular especially in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when opportunities in educational institutions for women were scarce. The movement was a sign ...

founded in 1880.

Notable people

* Vincent Dancy –

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach *

James Z. George James Zachariah George (October 20, 1826August 14, 1897) was an American lawyer, writer, U.S. politician, Confederate politician, and military officer. He was known as Mississippi's "Great Commoner". He was also a slave owner. Biography James ...

– Confederate politician and military officer

References

External links

Town of Shuqualak
{{authority control Towns in Noxubee County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin