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
Washington County, Mississippi
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,137. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named in honor of the first President of the United States, George Washingt ...
, United States.
The settlement has a post office and water tower. Wayside is located on
Mississippi Highway 1
Mississippi Highway 1 (MS 1) is a state highway in Mississippi that runs south from U.S. Highway 49 near Lula to U.S. Highway 61 south of Cary, roughly paralleling the Mississippi River. It travels approximately , serving Sharkey, Issaquen ...
The Belmont Plantation was located in Wayside. The plantation home was completed in 1859, and has been described as "one of the few antebellum homes in the region not burned by rampaging Union soldiers". The extant home was placed 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 v ...
in 1972.
Wayside was originally located directly on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
at the eastern end of "American Bend", and the early settlement had a steamboat landing. The river changed course following a flood in 1858, cutting off the bend and creating an
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...
now called Lake Lee.
A branch of the
Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway
The Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway was built between 1888 and 1890 and was admitted to the Illinois Central Railroad system in 1892. It ran between Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, through Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Baton ...
, completed in the late 1880s, passed through Wayside.
In 1900, the population was 65.
On October 9, 2009, a tornado destroyed three mobile homes, damaged 16 houses and knocked down trees. A fatality occurred in a mobile home, and two others were injured.