Concordia is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Bolivar County Bolivar County ( ), officially the County of Bolivar, is a County (United States), county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,985. Its county sea ...

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 ...

, United States, located on the eastern edge of the Mississippi Levee, approximately west of

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 ...

. Once an important

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 ...

shipping port for cotton, little remains of the community but a cemetery.

History

Concordia is one of the oldest communities in Bolivar County. The Concordia Cemetery, located south of the community, has been used since 1848, and is marked with a historic plaque. The Concordia Methodist Church was also located there. Concordia was officially formed in 1866, and included "Carson's Landing", located north of the settlement. Concordia had a population of about 250 by 1879, when yellow fever struck, killing half the population. The town was quarantined for a period. When 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 ...

was built in 1889, it passed east of the town, and many residents abandoned Concordia and moved to the nearby

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

of Gunnison. The town became further isolated sometime prior to 1939, when the Mississippi River changed its course. The river had previously followed the "Concordia Bend", with the town located on the east bank. Following the diversion, the main channel of the river moved approximately west, creating "Old River Lake", and oxbow lake, as well as Island No. 70 and Island No. 71. The area west of Concordia, between the levee and the Mississippi River, is used by the Concordia Hunting Club, and occupies .

References

{{authority control Former populated places in Bolivar County, Mississippi Former populated places in Mississippi Mississippi populated places on the Mississippi River