Okolona is a city in and one of the two
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 ...
s of
Chickasaw County,
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.
It is located near the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,692 at the
2010 census.
It had a large furniture industry and the Wilson Park resort.
History
Okolona was named as Rose Hill in 1845 early in its settlement, but residents later discovered that another location had this name. When a US post office was established here in 1850, a new name was needed to avoid confusion in mail delivery. According to the Okolona Area Chamber of Commerce, Colonel Josiah N. Walton, postmaster of nearby
Aberdeen, Mississippi
Aberdeen is the county seat of Monroe County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,961, down from 5,612 in 2010.
Located on the banks of the Tombigbee River, Aberdeen was one of the busiest Mississippi ports ...
, remembered an encounter with a
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 ...
warrior years earlier. The man's name was ''Oka-laua,'' meaning peaceful, yellow, or blue water. Walton renamed Rose Hill as Okolona in his honor. According to another account, Okalona is a Native American placename, possible from the Choctaw, meaning "people gathered together."
Due to the destruction brought to the area by the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, few structures from the antebellum period remain. The
Elliott-Donaldson House, constructed in 1850, survives and was added to 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 ...
in 1980. A few other homes have also survived.
In the mid nineteenth century, Okolona and the surrounding Black Prairie, sometimes called the
Black Belt or Prairie Belt, became what has been called the "Bread Basket of the
Confederacy". The area was part of the original
Cotton Belt
The Cotton Belt is a region of the Southern United States where cotton was the predominant cash crop from the late 19th century into the 20th century. of Mississippi well before the more famous
Delta region gained fame for major cotton production.
The
Mobile and Ohio Railroad
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ...
completed its tracks though Okolona in 1859, making the town a center for the
ginning of cotton and its shipment to markets. The town grew along Main Street as a result of the railroad. Most commercial buildings from this period, including the depot, were burned during the Civil War.
Civil War era
Five skirmishes or battles between
Union and
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 ...
forces occurred in and around Okolona. The eponymous
Battle of Okolona occurred in February 1864. In a running
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
clash between Confederate General
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...
and Union General
William Sooy Smith, the
Federals were defeated just north and west of town. General Forrest's brother, Jeffery, was killed in the engagement.
Okolona College
Okolona College was a
historically black college
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...
served African Americans 1902–1965. Today it is central to the
Okolona College Historic District.
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 , of which is land and , or 0.23%, is water.
As highways were built, they passed through the city, connecting it with other towns. This is the location of the junction of former
U.S. Route 45 Alternate (Church Street) and
Mississippi Highway 32 (Monroe Avenue). US-45A now bypasses the town to the east as a four-lane
divided highway.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 2,513 people, 1,164 households, and 645 families residing in the city.
2010 census
As of the
2010 United States Census, there were 2,692 people living in the city. 70.0% 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 ...
, 27.9%
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, 0.1%
Asian, 0.9% from some other race and 1.1%
of two or more races. 1.3% 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 3,056 people, 1,177 households, and 786 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,315 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 39.40%
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 ...
, 59.62%
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 ...
, 0.03%
Native American, 0.13%
Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 1.05% 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.
There were 1,177 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were married couples living together, 28.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $20,000, and the median income for a family was $32,147. Males had a median income of $26,217 versus $17,276 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,486. 35.4% of the population and 29.7% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total people living in poverty, 55.4% were under the age of 18 and 20.9% were 65 or older.
Education
Okolona is served by the
Okolona Municipal Separate School District. On February 19, 2010, the Mississippi State Board of Education voted unanimously to abolish the school district. State Superintendent of Education Tom Burnham said the conservator of the district will be Mike Vinson.
Notable people
*
Thomas Abernethy, former US Congressman
*
Bob Anderson (Mississippi politician), Mississippi state senator
*
Tim Bowens, NFL player for the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
for 10 seasons
*
Tom Bowens, former professional basketball player
*
Frank Burkitt, former member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...
and the
Mississippi State Senate
The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...
*
DeVan Dallas, Mississippi state legislator
*
Meredith Gardner
Meredith Knox Gardner (October 20, 1912August 9, 2002) was an American linguist and codebreaker. Gardner worked in counter-intelligence, decoding Soviet intelligence traffic regarding espionage in the United States, in what came to be known a ...
, linguist and codebreaker
*
Jack Gordon, former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives and the Mississippi State Senate
*
James Gordon,
United States Senator
The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress.
Party affiliation
Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
*
Jack Gregory, NFL player; member, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame
*
Russell Jolly, member of the Mississippi State Senate
*
William Raspberry
William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated public policy, public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy ...
, columnist
*
Rosa Lee Tucker (1866–1946), Mississippi State Librarian
*
Milan Williams
Milan B. Williams (March 28, 1948 – July 9, 2006) was an American keyboardist and a founding member of The Commodores.
He was born in Okolona, Mississippi, and began playing the piano after being inspired by his older brother Earl, who was a ...
, keyboardist and composer for
The Commodores
Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
The members of the group met as m ...
*
Delphia Welford, supercentenarian and third-oldest person ever from the United States
References
External links
Okolona Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control
Cities in Mississippi
Cities in Chickasaw County, Mississippi
County seats in Mississippi
Mississippi placenames of Native American origin