Greenville is the ninth-most populous city 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 ...

, and the largest city by population 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. It is the

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 ...

of Washington County. The population was 29,670 at the 2020 Census.

History

Early history

This area was occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. When the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

explored here, they encountered the historic

Natchez people ttps://archive.org/details/dcouverteett01marg The Internet Archive website The Natchez ( , ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, n ...

. As part of their colony known as ''

La Louisiane Louisiana or French Louisiana was a district of New France. In 1682 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle erected a cross near the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed the whole of the drainage basin of the Missis ...

'', the French established a settlement at what became

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

. Other Native American tribes also lived in what is now known as Mississippi. The current city of Greenville is the third in the State to bear the name. The first, (known as Old Greenville) located to the south near

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States ** Natchez slave market, Mississippi * ...

, was the Jefferson County seat from 1803 to 1825 but became defunct soon after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, as European-American settlement was then still concentrated in the eastern states. This ghost town was in no way related to the second Greenville except that they eventually shared a name. Many migrants came to the area of the future, second Greenville, located approximately 150 miles north of the first Greenville, from the eastern and

Upper South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, ...

states, seeking land for developing cotton plantations, and this area became a trading center for the region's plantations. In 1830 the United States Congress passed the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States president Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, ...

, which authorized the government to make treaties to extinguish Native American land claims in exchange for lands west of the Mississippi River. They forced most of the Southeastern tribes to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

during the following decade. After it became necessary to move the county seat of Washington County in 1844 due to loss of land to the newly formed Issaquena County, the not-yet established second Greenville was designated to be the future county seat and finally became so upon its founding in 1847. American William W. Blanton filed for land from the United States government and was granted section four, township eighteen, range eight west; this plot now constitutes most of current downtown Greenville (the third). It was named by its founders for General

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

, friend of President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, for whom the county was named. This Greenville was thriving hamlet in the antebellum years, as cotton plantations developed in the area generated high profits for major planters. They used indentured Whites, captured Indians and African slaves as farmhands on the plantations. Washington County's two previous county seats,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, were located along the Mississippi River and had been eroded by the waters, to the point that they were destroyed. As county seat, Greenville was the trading, business, and cultural center for the large

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

plantations Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

that surrounded it. Most plantations were located directly on the Mississippi and other major navigable tributaries. The interior bottomlands were not developed until after the Civil War.

The destruction of Greenville and the Civil War

The town (the second Greenville, eventually also referred to as Old Greenville by its residents who may not have been familiar with Mississippi's first Greenville, which by then had disappeared) was destroyed during the Union Army's actions related to the

siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed th ...

. Troops from a Union gunboat landed at Greenville. In retaliation for being fired upon, they burned every building. The inhabitants took refuge in plantation homes of the area. When the war ended, veterans of Mississippi regiments returned to find Greenville in a state of ruin. The former residents soon decided to build again. They chose a new site (the third, current Greenville) three miles away, at the highest point on the Mississippi River between the towns of Vicksburg and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

. Much of the land belonged to the Roach and Blanton families; the major part of the area selected was within property owned by Mrs. Harriet Blanton Theobald. She welcomed the idea of a new Greenville, and donated land for schools, churches and public buildings. She was called the " Mother of Greenville". Major Richard O’Hea, who had planned the wartime defense fortifications at Vicksburg, was hired to lay out the new town. Greenville recovered prosperity, still based on cotton, despite the decline in world markets for this commodity. In the early 20th century, its elite families had considerable political influence in the state, and US Senator

Leroy Percy LeRoy Percy (November 9, 1860December 24, 1929) was an American attorney, planter, and Democratic politician who served as a United States Senator from the state of Mississippi from 1910 to 1913. Percy was a grandson of Charles "Don Carlos" Pe ...

was from here. Several residences and other buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It was a center of Delta culture in the early 20th century. This city adapted the former site to serve as industrial fill.

Nelson Street

African Americans in the Delta developed rich varieties of innovative music. Nelson Street is a historic strip of blues clubs that drew crowds in the 1940s and 1950s to the flourishing club scene to hear

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

jump blues Jump blues is an uptempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues wa ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. Record companies came to Greenville to recruit talent. It was similar to

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...

in mid-20th century

. In the early 21st century, the Mississippi Blues Commission was established to commemorate this music in the state's history and culture. It has identified sites throughout the Delta as part of the

Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) t ...

. Southern Whispers Restaurant on Nelson Street in Greenville was the second site identified on this trail; this was a stop on the Chitlin' Circuit in the early days of the blues. The historic marker in front of the restaurant commemorates its importance in the history of the

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 ...

in Mississippi.

21st century

In 2020 the city ordered churches to shut down to prevent the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and issued citations and fines to those attending a drive-in church gathering. The

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

intervened on behalf of the church.

Geography

Greenville is located on the eastern bank of Lake Ferguson, an oxbow lake left from an old channel of 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 ...

. One floating casino is located on the lake near the downtown area known as the Trop Casino Greenville, with a second just west of the city near the

Greenville Bridge The Greenville Bridge, or the Jesse Brent Memorial Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge over the Mississippi River, in the United States, carrying US 82 and US 278 between Refuge, Mississippi, and Shives, Arkansas. When it opened in 2010, it wa ...

known as Harlow's Casino Resort. Chicago Mill and Lumber Co. operated a lumber mill on the lake two-tenths of a mile south of the casino levee parking lot; the mill specialized in making hardwood boxes until it closed. 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 , of which is land and (2.82%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 29,670 people, 12,142 households, and 7,405 families residing in the city.

2013 ACS

As of the 2013

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there were 33,928 people living in the city. 75.9% were

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 ...

, 21.7%

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 ...

, 0.0% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.9% from some other race and 0.7% from two or more races. 1.2% 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 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 41,633 people, 18,784 households, and 14,422 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 16,251 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 28.92%

, 69.60%

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 ...

, 0.07% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.20% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population. There were 14,784 households, out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% 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, 27.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. Of all households, 25.8% were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.34. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.4% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,928, and the median income for a family was $30,788. Males had a median income of $29,801 versus $20,707 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 $13,992. About 25.7% of families and 29.6% 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 38.2% of those under age 18 and 23.6% of those age 65 or over.

1990 census

As of the

o
1990
there were 45,226 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 59.41% (26,867) Black or African American, 39.54% (17,881)

, 0.08% (37) Native American, 0.41% (185) Asian, and 0.01% (4) from other races. 0.56% (252) were

or Latino of any race.

Government

Transportation

Air

Greenville Mid Delta Regional Airport, located in unincorporated Washington County, northeast of downtown Greenville, serves the city and the

region. Commercial passenger air service is currently provided by

Contour Airlines Contour Airlines is an independent regional airline headquartered at Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, United States. Contour Airlines is set up as a public charter operator for regulatory purposes and does not directly operate aircraft. Co ...

with nonstop

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...

regional jet flights to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Nashville (BNA).

Transportation

U.S. Highway 61 U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designat ...

U.S. Highway 82 U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a route extending from the White Sands of New ...

and the

Great River Road The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Miss ...

(

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 ...

) are the main transportation arteries through the Greenville area. U.S. Highway 82 is a major part of the Mississippi Delta's transportation network, as it connects to

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

and other major four-lane highways. In addition, the U.S. Highway 82 bypass is being constructed to provide a transportation route at the southern end of the Delta, connecting at the new Mississippi River Bridge and ending near Leland. The four-lane

, a $206 million cable-stayed span crossing the

into

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, opened in 2010, replacing the two-lane

Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge The Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge was a two-lane cantilevered truss bridge carrying U.S. Route 82/U.S. Route 278 across the Mississippi River between Lake Village, Arkansas and Greenville, Mississippi. It was the first bridge to connect the tw ...

, which opened in 1940.

Rail

The

Columbus and Greenville Railway There have been two uses of Columbus and Greenville Railway, both for the same rail line. Original Columbus and Greenville The first Columbus and Greenville Railway was formed by the sale of the Southern Railway operated Southern Railway in M ...

operates the Greenwood–Greenville rail line for freight traffic. North of Greenville, the

Great River Railroad The Great River Railroad is a shortline railroad that runs from Rosedale, Mississippi, Rosedale to a connection with the Columbus and Greenville Railway (1975), Columbus and Greenville Railway in Greenville, Mississippi. Formerly part of Illino ...

's line to Rosedale branches off.

Economy

Circa 2008 there were ten grocery stores operated by ethnic Chinese people. There were 42 such stores in the city in 1951, but since then there had been a flight of ethnic Chinese from the Delta.

Education

Most of Greenville is served by the

Greenville Public School District The Greenville Public School District (GPSD) or Greenville Public Schools (GPS) is a public school district based in Greenville, Mississippi (USA). Adam Ganucheau and Kate Royals of ''Mississippi Today'' wrote in 2021 that the district was ...

, while a small portion of the city lies in the Western Line School District. Greenville High School is the public high school of the Greenville district, while O'Bannon High School serves Western Line residents. The private schools, Washington School and

Greenville Christian School Greenville Christian School is a private, Christian school located in Greenville, Mississippi that was founded as a segregation academy. Greenville Christian offers preschool through grade 12 education to residents of Greenville and the surroundin ...

, also serve the city, as well as St. Joseph Catholic School (K-12), a parochial school which is part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson The Diocese of Jackson is a Latin Church diocese in Mississippi in the United States. Its ecclesiastical jurisdiction includes the northern and central parts of the state, an area of . It is the largest diocese, by area, east of the Mississippi R ...

. The diocese formerly operated Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School, which merged into St. Joseph in 2016. The Greenville Higher Education Center offers non-credit community courses and credit courses from

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...

Mississippi Delta Community College Mississippi Delta Community College is a public community college serving the Mississippi Delta region with its main campus in Moorhead, Mississippi. It also offers courses at locations in Greenville, Greenwood, and Indianola. Its mascot is th ...

(MDCC), and

Mississippi Valley State University Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississ ...

. All of Washington County is in the service area of MDCC.

Media

'' Delta Democrat Times'' is the daily newspaper of the town.

Sports

The

Greenville Bucks The Greenville Bucks or sometimes Buckshots were a Cotton States League baseball team in Greenville, Mississippi that existed from 1922 to 1955. They were affiliated with the Memphis Chicks in the 1930s, the New York Yankees in the 1940s and the D ...

were a minor-league baseball team in the

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Engli ...

from 1922 to 1955. The

Greenville Bluesmen The Greenville Bluesmen were a minor league baseball team that played in Greenville, Mississippi. The team was a member of the independent Big South League from 1996–1997 and the independent Texas–Louisiana League from 1998–2001. The tea ...

were an independent minor league professional baseball team from 1996 to 2001 in Greenville. The Mississippi Miracles, formerly the Mississippi Stingers, were an

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

franchise from 2004 to 2006 in Greenville.

Sites

The Winterville Mounds Historic Site, with more than twelve earthwork mounds constructed by people of the

Plaquemine Mississippian culture The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture (circa 1200 to 1700 CE) centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek (700-1200 CE) and Troyville cultures ( ...

, is a survival north of the county seat of the deep indigenous history along the Mississippi River. This culture was particularly prominent from 13th to the 15th centuries, long before European exploration. Earthwork mounds were built by peoples in this area from the 9th century. The people in this region were influenced by the larger

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a collection of Native American societies that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building la ...

, which built similar ceremonial sites throughout the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries. The historic

are considered the only contemporary surviving group of the Mississippian culture at the time of European exploration. The Winterville Mounds has been designated as a state park and

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. A museum on the grounds displays artifacts recovered in professional excavations and adds to the interpretation of this complex, and the park has walking trails. It is located about 3 miles north of the city. It can be reached at 2415 Highway 1 N.

In popular culture

The movies ''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

'' (1986) and ''

The Reivers ''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. It was published a month before his death. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previou ...

'' (1969) were filmed in Greenville. The movie ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' ( ) is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Tarantino's A Band Apart and Columbia Pictures, it stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry W ...

'' (2012) is set in Greenville for some scenes.

Notable people

Born in Greenville

Steve Azar Stephen Thomas Azar (born April 11, 1964) is an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and philanthropist. Active since 1996, he has released a total of seven studio albums: one on the former River North Records, one on Mercury N ...

, country singer *

Eden Brent Eden Brent (born November 16, 1965, in Greenville, Mississippi, United States) is an American musician on the independent Yellow Dog Records label. A blues pianist and vocalist, she combines boogie-woogie with elements of blues, jazz, soul, gospe ...

, blues

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...

musician, composer, and performer * Vivian Brown, meteorologist for

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...

Charles Chew Charles Chew, Jr. (October 9, 1922 – July 3, 1986) was an American politician in Illinois. He served in the Illinois Senate from 1967-1986. Born in Greenville, Mississippi, Chew served in the United States Navy during World War II. He wen ...

, (1922–1986), Illinois state senator; born in Greenville * John Colbert, a.k.a. J Blackfoot, Soul singer with the Bar-Kays and Soul Children *

Tommy Davidson Tommy Davidson (born Anthony Reed, November 10, 1963) is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on the sketch comedy TV show ''In Living Color'', and portrayed Mitchell on '' Between Brothers'' (1997–1999), Dexter on '' ...

, actor/comedian * Ross Davis, Negro league baseball player *

Tyrone Davis Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) (although many sources have his date of birth as May 4, 1938), was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more th ...

, blues musician * Johnny Dollar, (1941–2006),

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter *

Shelby Foote Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist. Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of ''The Civil War: A Narrative'', a three- ...

, author and historian *

Jimmie Giles Jimmie Giles Jr. (born November 8, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for four teams, primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. College career He played college fo ...

, NFL tight end with

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Quentin Groves Quentin Dominic Groves (July 5, 1984 – October 15, 2016) was an American professional football linebacker. He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft and played college football at Auburn. He was als ...

, an American football linebacker with the Jacksonville Jaguars *

Brooks Haxton Brooks Haxton (born December 1, 1950) is an American poet and translator. His publications include nine books of original poems and four books of translations from the German, the French, and ancient Greek. In 2014 he published ''Fading Hearts ...

, poet and professor at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

* Robert T. Henry,

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

soldier and

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient *

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

, (1936–1990), puppeteer, television and film producer, creator of

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

* Corey Holmes, all-star Canadian Football League player and Mayor of

Metcalfe, Mississippi Metcalfe is a town in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,067 at the 2010 census. The county is located on the western border of the state, with the Mississippi River on the west. It is within the Mississippi Delta ...

Lucy Somerville Howorth Lucy Somerville Howorth (July 1, 1895 – August 23, 1997) was an American lawyer, feminist and politician. On August 18, 1917, in the State Capitol gallery in Nashville, Tennessee, she witnessed the Nineteenth Amendment to the United State ...

, feminist and

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

lawyer *

Carla Hughes Carla Ann Hughes (born June 12, 1981) is a former middle school teacher and murderer from Jackson, Mississippi, who was convicted of two counts of capital murder for the November 29, 2006 slayings of her lover's pregnant fiancee, Avis Banks, an ...

, convicted of murdering Avis Banks and her unborn baby. * Antonio Johnson, NFL player for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

* Germany Kent, model and media personality * Cornelia Lampton, pianist *

Sam Chu Lin Sam Chu Lin (; c. 1939 – March 5, 2006) was an American journalist. Career and contributions Born in Greenville, Mississippi, Sam Chu Lin began his career in broadcasting began when he hosted a 1956 radio show in his hometown. He used the ...

, pioneering

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

journalist * John Ramsey Miller, writer and journalist *

Wilbert Montgomery Wilbert Montgomery (born September 16, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college ...

, former NFL running back, member of

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Hall of Fame * The Percy family, including U.S. Senator Le Roy Percy and his son, author

William Alexander Percy William Alexander Percy (May 14, 1885 – January 21, 1942) was a lawyer, planter, and poet from Greenville, Mississippi. His autobiography ''Lanterns on the Levee'' ( Knopf 1941) became a bestseller. His father LeRoy Percy was the last United ...

, lived here.

Walker Percy Walker Percy, Oblate of Saint Benedict, OblSB (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, ''Th ...

, another writer from the Percy family, and his brothers were raised by William Alexander Percy here after being orphaned. *

Neil Ratliff Neil Mixon Ratliff (b Greenville, Mississippi, 22 Aug 1936; Washington, DC, 17 Sept 1994), was an American music librarian, and, until his death, served as Head of the Music Library at the University of Maryland, College Park, which included ov ...

(1936-1994), music librarian * Julia Evans Reed, author, journalist and columnist * George Scott,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player for

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Carol Schwartz Carol Schwartz (born January 20, 1944) is an American politician and perennial candidate from Washington, D.C., who served as a Republican at-large member on the Council of the District of Columbia from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1997 to 2009. ...

, former member of

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...

* Nellie Nugent Somerville, first woman elected to

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 ...

, mother of Lucy Somerville Howorth *

LaToya Thomas LaToya Monique Thomas (born July 6, 1981) is an American professional basketball player. College years Thomas was a standout four-year starter at Mississippi State University. Thomas was the eighth freshman in the 25-year history of Kodak All ...

, former professional basketball player in WNBA, first round draft pick of

Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon ...

Heather McTeer Toney Heather McTeer Toney is an American politician, environmentalist, attorney, and civil servant. In 2014, Toney was appointed as a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Southeast region by President Barack Ob ...

, former mayor of Greenville and EPA regional administrator. *

Walter Turnbull Dr. Walter Turnbull (19 July 1944 in Greenville, Mississippi – 23 March 2007) was an American musician and the founder of the Boys Choir of Harlem. Turnbull graduated from Tougaloo College where he studied classical music and vocal performanc ...

, African American musician, founder of Boys Choir of Harlem *

Frank White Frank White may refer to: Politics * Frank White (Australian politician) (1830–1875), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Frank White (Alabama politician) (1847–1922), U.S. Senator from Alabama * Frank White (North Dakota p ...

, professional baseball player * Mary Wilson, singer of

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

Benjamin_Wright Ben or Benjamin Wright may refer to: ;Ben *Ben Wright (American actor) (born 1969) and stuntman, "Jack" in the original Broadway production of ''Into the Woods'' (1987) *Ben Wright (bishop) (1942–2010), Australian Anglican bishop *Ben Wright (cri ...

, (born July 11, 1946) is an American record producer, composer and arranger.

Greenville-related

* Ray Brown, NFL football player *

Hodding Carter William Hodding Carter II (February 3, 1907 – April 4, 1972) was an American progressive journalist and author. Among other distinctions in his career, Carter was a Nieman Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner. He died in Greenville, Mississippi, ...

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-journalist, managed the city's '' Delta Democrat Times.'' *

Hodding Carter III William Hodding Carter III (April 7, 1935 – May 11, 2023) was an American journalist and politician who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. He frequently appeared on the news and provided upd ...

, also a journalist, lived and worked here during and after the civil rights movement. *

Holt Collier Holt Collier (c. 1848 – August 1, 1936) was a noted African-American bear hunter and sportsman. While leading a hunt for U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt in November 1902, Collier unwittingly set the stage for the event that originated Roosev ...

is buried in Greenville. Collier was an African-American bear hunter and sportsman. * Samuel Gibbs French (1818-1910), Confederate Major General, managed a plantation in Greenville *

John F. Harris John F. Harris is an American political journalist who is the co-founder and global editor-in-chief of ''Politico''. With former partner Jim VandeHei, Harris founded ''Politico'' on January 23, 2007, and previously served as editor-in-chief unti ...

, Mississippi State Representative from Greenville elected in 1890. * Clarke Reed, Mississippi state Republican chairman from 1966 to 1976 * Thomas R. Yarborough, first Black city councilman in California

Sister cities

Kronach Kronach (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Franconian Forest area. It is the capital of the Kronach (district), district Kronach. The town is equipped with a nearly complete city wall and Germany's biggest an ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany, since 2006 * Greenville, Liberia, since 2009

References

External links

City of GreenvilleDelta Democrat-Times
(from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life) * {{authority control * 1870 establishments in Mississippi Cities in Washington County, Mississippi County seats in Mississippi Micropolitan areas of Mississippi Mississippi Blues Trail Mississippi populated places on the Mississippi River Planned communities in the United States Populated places established in 1870

History

Early history

The destruction of Greenville and the Civil War

Nelson Street

21st century

Geography

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

2013 ACS

2000 census

1990 census

Government

Transportation

Air

Transportation

Rail

Economy

Education

Media

Sports

Sites

In popular culture

Notable people

Born in Greenville

Greenville-related

Sister cities

See also

References

External links