Eupora is the largest city in Webster County, central

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 ...

. The population was 2,197 at the 2010 census.

History

Eupora was established in 1889 by European Americans on a spur track of the

Georgia Pacific Railway The Georgia Pacific Railway was a railway company chartered on December 31, 1881, consolidating the Georgia Western Railroad and the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company of Alabama. The Georgia Western Railroad was chartered by the Georgia Legislat ...

. While there had been agricultural development prior to this in the county, the railroad stimulated trade and businesses. Today this is the largest city in the county. Near here was a site in 1770 of armed conflict among some Native American tribes. The

Chakchiuma The Chakchiuma were a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe of the upper Yazoo River region of what is today the state of Mississippi. In the late 17th century, French explorers identified the Chakchiuma as "a Chickasaw, ...

were destroyed by the allied

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 ...

and

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

, who were traditional enemies in the region. They dominated territories in what became Mississippi and Alabama. In 1904 Bud Simpson, an African-American man also known as Sterling (or Starling) Dunham, was accused of raping some white girls. Not given a trial, he was

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of in ...

- hanged from a tree by a mob of 200 cheering white people. They riddled his body with bullets.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of 3.6 square miles (9.3 km²), of which 3.3 square miles (8.4 km²) is land and 0.3 square mile (0.8 km²) (8.94%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,018 people, 816 households, and 566 families residing in the city.

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 2,326 people, 877 households, and 590 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 957 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 58.86%

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 ...

, 38.01%

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 ...

, 0.13% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 2.28% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races.

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 of any race were 3.74% of the population. There were 877 households, out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% 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, 21.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,839, and the median income for a family was $37,950. Males had a median income of $26,875 versus $21,458 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 city was $12,927. About 20.9% of families and 24.0% 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 35.6% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Eupora is served by the Webster County School District. There are two elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, and a career and technical center.

Media

WLZA serves as an FM radio station and WEPA (AM) previously broadcast from Eupora.

Notable people

* Thomas Abernethy, former U.S. Congressman * Johnie Hammond, Iowa state legislator * Joseph Turner Patterson (D) - former Attorney General of Mississippi * Marckell Patterson, professional basketball player * Derrick Jones, professional football player. * Donald C. Simmons, Jr., educator, author, poet and documentary film producer.

References

{{authority control Cities in Mississippi Cities in Webster County, Mississippi