Coahoma County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,390. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Clarksdale. The Clarksdale, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Coahoma County. It is located in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

region of Mississippi. In 2023, the Clarksdale, Mississippi Micropolitan area was added to form the new Memphis-Clarksdale-Forrest City Combined Statistical Area. The Memphis-Clarksdale-Forrest City Combined Statistical Area has a population of roughly 1.4 million.

History

Coahoma County was established February 9, 1836, and is located in the northwestern part of the state in the fertile Yazoo Delta region. The name "Coahoma" is a

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

word meaning "red panther." Chickasaw leader Coahoma is the immediate namesake of the county, he was chief of one of four annuity districts arranged by U.S. Indian agents in 1815; Coahoma's territory was in the northwestern section of what is now Mississippi. The act creating the county defined its limits as follows:

Beginning at the point where the line between townships 24 and 25 of the surveys of the late Choctaw cession intersects the Mississippi River, and running thence up the said river to the point where the dividing line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians intersects the same; thence with the dividing line to the point where the line between ranges two and three of the survey of the said Choctaw cession intersects the same; thence with said range line, to the line between townships 24 and 25 aforesaid, and thence with the said township line to the beginning.

In the early days of the county, before the construction of railways or extensive roadways inland, the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

was the primary transportation route, and the first three county seats were each located on the river. In 1836,

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

was designated as the first county seat. In 1841, high waters on the Mississippi River flooded Port Royal, and in 1842 the county seat was moved to the town of

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

. High waters on the Mississippi also flooded Delta, and in 1850 the county seat was moved to Friars Point, which had a population of about 1,000 in 1920, and received its name in honor of Robert Friar, an early settler. As nearby Clarksdale grew in population and influence, it challenged Friars Point's hold on the county government, and in 1892, Coahoma County was divided into two jurisdictions, one going to Friars Point and the other to Clarksdale. In 1930, the county seat was given exclusively to Clarksdale, which had a population of 7,500 in 1920. Clarksdale is now the largest and most important city in the county, and was named for John Clark, a brother-in-law of Governor James L. Alcorn, whose home, Eagle's Nest, was in this county.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.3%) is water.

Major highways

* Future Interstate 69 * U.S. Highway 49 * U.S. Highway 61 * U.S. Highway 278 *

Mississippi Highway 1 Mississippi Highway 1 (MS 1) is a state highway in Mississippi that runs south from U.S. Highway 49 near Lula, Mississippi, Lula to U.S. Highway 61 south of Cary, Mississippi, Cary, roughly paralleling the Mississippi River. It travels approxi ...

* Mississippi Highway 6 * Mississippi Highway 315

Adjacent counties

* Tunica County (north) * Quitman County (east) * Sunflower County (south) * Tallahatchie County (southeast) * Bolivar County (southwest) * Phillips County, Arkansas (west)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 21,390 people, 8,782 households, and 5,637 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 26,151 people living in the county. 75.5% were Black or African American, 22.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Native American, 0.5% of some other race and 0.5% of two or more races. 1.1% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 30,622 people, 10,553 households, and 7,482 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 11,490 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 65.21%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 27.28%

, 6.90% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino, 0.47% Asian, 0.09% Native American, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.34% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. of any race. There were 10,553 households, out of which 36.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.20% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 28.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.10% were non-families. 26.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.42. In the county, the population was spread out, with 33.00% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 19.10% from 45 to 64, and 12.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 84.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $22,338, and the median income for a family was $26,640. Males had a median income of $26,841 versus $19,611 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $12,558. About 29.80% of families and 35.90% 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 ...

, including 45.90% of those under age 18 and 31.50% of those age 65 or over.

Education

* Colleges ** Coahoma Community College (Clarksdale) Coahoma County was previously in the service area of the Mississippi Delta Community College (MDCC). As a result of the 1995

Mississippi Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and ...

session, Coahoma County is no longer in the MDCC service area.The History of MDCC
." Mississippi Delta Community College. Retrieved on October 18, 2010. * Public School Districts ** Clarksdale Municipal School District - Its high school is Clarksdale High School ** Coahoma County School District - Its high school is Coahoma County Junior-Senior High School * Private Schools ** Lee Academy (Clarksdale)

Communities

Cities

* Clarksdale (county seat)

Towns

* Coahoma * Friars Point *

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American religious movement under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became in ...

* Lula *

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Census-designated places

* Bobo *

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

* Farrell * Rena Lara

Unincorporated communities

* Burke Landing * Claremont * Clover Hill * Hillhouse * Hopson *

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

* Lu-Rand * Mattson * Moon Lake (community) *

Rich Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense taste, flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated c ...

* Roseacres * Roundaway * Rudyard * Sherard * Stovall * Sunflower Landing

Ghost towns

* Ingram (also in Quitman County) *

* Wildwood

Notable people

* James L. Alcorn,

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from Mississippi, owned and died at "Eagle Nest" in Coahoma County *

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer. He is the author of a series of suspense novels about Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, including '' The Silence o ...

, author of ''

Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling ...

'' novels; he was born in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

, but raised in Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated community in Coahoma County. *

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

(1917–2001),

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician born in 1917 in Coahoma County into a

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

and

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

preacher family. * D. H. Hopson (born 1859), a teacher, state legislator, tax assessor, and coroner in Mississippi * Maud Jeffries (18691946), actress, born in Lula, Mississippi, married a wealthy Australian grazier, and settled in Australia. * Ransom A. Myers (b. Lula, Mississippi, 1952 – d.

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, 2007) was a renowned Canada-based marine biologist, conservationist and scholar at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

who published a seminal study on overfishing. *

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American rapper and singer. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals on several hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning him the ...

spent his childhood in Clarksdale. *

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

the rapper was born in Coahoma County in 1976. Soon moved to

Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...

. * Frederick Bruce Thomas (1872-1928), prominent entrepreneur and multi-millionaire in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. *

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

, musician, was born in Clarksdale *

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 three ...

, playwright, spent much of his childhood in Clarksdale and Coahoma County. A Tennessee Williams Festival is held annually in Clarksdale. * Blac Elvis was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Award-winning music producer/songwriter. *

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902 – October 19, 1988) was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing. After years of hostility to secular music, as a prea ...

, blues singer and guitarist, (b. 1902 – d. 1988), was born at Lyon in Coahoma County, Mississippi. *

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

, country singer, (b. 1933 - d. 1993), was born in Friars Point, Mississippi.

Politics

Like the rest of the Mississippi Delta region, Coahoma County is a Democratic stronghold, having not supported a Republican presidential candidate since

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

in his 1972 landslide.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060906233219/http://www.clarksdale.com/chamber/
Coahoma County Courthouse Pictures

Delta News Online: Hometown News for the Mississippi Delta
{{authority control Mississippi counties Mississippi counties on the Mississippi River Mississippi placenames of Native American origin 1836 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1836 Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties in Mississippi