Jefferson 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 ...

; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,260, making it the fourth-least populous county in Mississippi. Until 1825, its first

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 ...

was located at Old Greenville, which no longer exists, before moving to Fayette. The county is named for

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. One of the first of two counties organized in the

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that was created under an organic act passed by the United States Congress, Congress of the United States. It was approved and signed into law by Presiden ...

in 1798 along with Adams County, it was first named Pickering County and included what would become Claiborne County. Originally developed as cotton plantations in the

antebellum era The ''Antebellum'' South era (from ) was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practi ...

, the rural county has struggled with a declining economy and reduced population since the mechanization of agriculture and urbanization of other areas. In 2020, its population of 7,260 was roughly one-third of the population peak in 1900. Within the United States, in 2009 rural Jefferson County had the highest percentage of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

s of any county. It was the fourth-poorest county in the nation.King: They'll take small victories in struggling Mississippi county
" ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

''. September 25, 2009, Retrieved September 26, 2009.

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 (1.4%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 61 * Mississippi Highway 28 * Mississippi Highway 33

Adjacent counties

* Claiborne County (north) * Copiah County (northeast) * Lincoln County (southeast) * Franklin County (south) * Adams County (southwest) *

Tensas Parish, Louisiana Tensas Parish () is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the northeastern section of the U.S. state, State of Louisiana; its eastern border is the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population ...

(west)

National protected areas

* Homochitto National Forest (part) * Natchez Trace Parkway (part)

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,260 people, 2,448 households, and 1,488 families residing in the county.

Education

Jefferson County School District operates public schools in all of the county. It is in the district of Copiah–Lincoln Community College, and has been since 1967.

Communities

City

* Fayette (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Cannonsburg * Church Hill * Harriston * Lorman * McBride * Red Lick * Union Church

Ghost towns or defunct

* Ashland (or Ashland Landing) * Cane Ridge * Coon Box * Gum Ridge * Old Greenville * Rodney * Shankstown * Uniontown

Politics

Jefferson County is overwhelmingly Democratic, and has supported Democratic candidates in presidential elections with at least 80% of the vote since Bill Clinton in 1992, who won 79%. Republicans have not garnered even 25% of the vote in presidential elections since 1972 (when Jefferson was one of only three counties in Mississippi to vote for

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

). The last Republican to win the county was

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

. Although Goldwater lost nationally in a landslide, he carried the state of Mississippi (and also Jefferson County) in a landslide, winning over 87% of the vote and carrying every county. Jefferson County supported him with 95% of the vote. Goldwater's lopsided victory was the result of Mississippi's decades-long suppression of the voting rights of African Americans, which only began to be reversed with the passage of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

Notable people

* Abijah Hunt, merchant who lived in Old Greenville during the Territorial Period, and owned a chain of stores and public cotton gins along the

Natchez Trace The Natchez Trace, also known as the Old Natchez Trace, is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland River, Cumberland, Tennessee River, ...

A Guide to the Abijah Hunt Papers, 1800-1821, 1880
The University of Texas at Austin: Briscoe Center for American History * David Hunt, Antebellum planter who lived on Woodlawn Plantation in Jefferson County, and became one of 12 planter millionaires in the Natchez District before the American Civil War. *

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

, U.S. president, planter, and soldier who often stayed on his plantation, Cypress Grove in Jefferson County, between 1840 and 1848.

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Mississippi counties Populated places established in 1799 Mississippi counties on the Mississippi River 1799 establishments in Mississippi Territory Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties in Mississippi