Itawamba 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 United States census, the population was 23,863. 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 Fulton. The county is part of the

Tupelo Tupelo commonly refers to: * Tupelo (tree), a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves * Tupelo, Mississippi, the county seat and the largest city of Lee County, Mississippi Tupelo may also refer to: Places * Tupelo, Arka ...

, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county was named for

Itawamba Levi Colbert (June 2, 1834) was an early 19th-century Chickasaw leader and the namesake of Itawamba County, Mississippi. Early life and education Levi Colbert was born around 1759 in the Chickasaw Nation (present-day Alabama). He was the fi ...

, an early 19th-century

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 ...

leader. He was prominent during the Indian Removal period of the early 19th century, but died before his people left the area.

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 county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.4%) is water.

Major highways

Interstate 22 Interstate 22 (I-22) is a Interstate Highway in the US states of Mississippi and Alabama, connecting I-269 near Byhalia, Mississippi, to I-65 near Birmingham, Alabama. I-22 is also Corridor X of the Appalachian Development Highway ...

* U.S. Highway 78 * Mississippi Highway 23 *

Mississippi Highway 25 Mississippi Highway 25 (MS 25) runs from I-55 in Jackson, Mississippi to the Tennessee state line north of Iuka. The largely controlled-access part from Jackson to Starkville connects the state capital with the main campus of Mississippi Stat ...

Mississippi Highway 76 Mississippi Highway 76 (MS 76) is an east-west state highway in Itawamba County, Mississippi. It is a section of Mississippi's portion of Corridor V (Appalachian Development Highway System), Corridor V of the Appalachian Development H ...

Mississippi Highway 178 Mississippi Highway 178 (MS 178), or simply "Old 78", is a east-west State highway (US), state highway across the northern portion of the state of Mississippi. It is the former alignment of U.S. Route 78 in Mississippi, U.S. Route 78 (US&n ...

Natchez Trace Parkway The Natchez Trace Parkway is a limited-access national parkway in the Southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail. Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 44 ...

Adjacent counties

* Tishomingo County - northeast *

Franklin County, Alabama Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,113. Its county seat is Russellville. Its name is in honor of Benjamin Franklin, famous statesman, scientist, and printer. It ...

- east *

Marion County, Alabama Marion County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 29,341. The county seat is Hamilton. The county was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818. The coun ...

- southeast * Monroe County - south * Lee County - west * Prentiss County - northwest

National protected area

(part) * Pharr Mounds (near Tupelo), complex of earthwork

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

from the Middle

Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact i ...

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 23,863 people, 8,653 households, and 6,207 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 22,770 people, 8,773 households, and 6,500 families in the county. The population density was . There were 9,804 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 92.47%

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 ...

, 6.47%

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 ...

, 0.14% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.32% from other races, and 0.42% from two or more races. 0.99% 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 of any race. In 2000, there were 8,773 households, out of which 33.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.30% 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, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.90% were non-families. 23.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.95. The county population contained 24.20% under the age of 18, 10.60% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,156, and the median income for a family was $36,793. Males had a median income of $29,231 versus $20,900 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 $14,956. About 10.10% of families and 14.00% 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 15.70% of those under age 18 and 23.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

* Fulton (county seat)

Towns

* Mantachie * Tremont

Census-designated place

* Kirkville

Unincorporated communities

* Beans Ferry * Bounds Crossroads * Cadamy * Carolina *

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

* Dorsey * Tilden * Turon

Ghost towns

* Rara Avis * Ryan's Well * Van Buren * Wheeling *

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Politics

Originally a Democratic stronghold, Itawamba County has, since 1984, swung heavily to the Republican party. In the 21st Century it has shifted further to the right in each subsequent election, and in 2024 it was the most Republican county in Mississippi.

Education

The school district is Itawamba County School District.
Text list
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Itawamba Community College Itawamba Community College is a public community college with its main campus in Fulton, Mississippi. Additional campuses are in Belden and Tupelo. History Itawamba Community College began as an extension of Itawamba County Agricultural Hi ...

is in the county.

Civil Rights

The County holds an annual Civil Rights march and speaker series in January on/around the celebration of MLK day
MLK Day Celebration
The county was the site of the

2010 Itawamba County School District prom controversy The 2010 Itawamba County School District prom controversy took place in Itawamba County, Mississippi, and began when lesbian student Constance McMillen was refused permission to take her girlfriend to the Itawamba County Agricultural High School ...

when a lesbian student, Constance McMillen, from Fulton, had attempted to bring her partner to prom. The matter went to court, with the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

representing McMillen. On July 20, 2010, the school district settled the case out of court by paying McMillen

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

35,000 (equivalent to $41,537 in 2020), paying her attorneys' fees, and agreeing to create a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation.

Notable people

* Brian Dozier, All-Star

Major League Baseball 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 ...

second baseman, won

2019 World Series The 2019 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season. The 115th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion 2019 ...

with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

* Delphia Spencer Hankins, American supercentenarian *

John E. Rankin John Elliott Rankin (March 29, 1882 – November 26, 1960) was a Democratic politician from Mississippi who served sixteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1921 to 1953. He was co-author of the bill for the Tennessee Valley ...

, sixteen-term Democratic U.S. Congressman (1920–1952) *

Jumpin' Gene Simmons Morris Eugene Simmons (July 10, 1937 – August 29, 2006), better known as Jumpin' Gene Simmons, was an American singer and songwriter best known for his 1964 novelty single "Haunted House". Biography Gene Simmons was born in Itawamba County, M ...

, American songwriter, co-writer of Indian Outlaw (1937-2006) *

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

, American country music artist * Walter Willams, last living

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

soldier

References

External links

*
Itawamba Historical Society

Lee-Itawamba Library System
{{coord, 34.28, -88.36, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MS_source:UScensus1990 1836 establishments in Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin Mississippi counties Populated places established in 1836 Tupelo micropolitan area