Port Gibson is a city and 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 Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 census. It is bordered on the west by 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 ...

. The first European settlers in Port Gibson were French colonists in 1729; it was part of their '' La Louisiane''. After the United States acquired the territory from France in 1803 in the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

, the town was chartered that same year. To develop cotton plantations in the area after Indian Removal of the 1830s, planters who moved to the state brought with them or imported thousands of enslaved African Americans from the Upper South, disrupting many families. Well before the Civil War, the majority of the county's population were enslaved. Several notable people are natives of Port Gibson. The town saw action during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Port Gibson has several historical sites 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 ...

( National Register of Historic Places listings in Claiborne County, Mississippi). In the twentieth century, Port Gibson was home to The Rabbit's Foot Company. It had a substantial role in the development of

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, operating taverns and juke joints now included on 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 ...

. In the second half of the twentieth century many jobs in agriculture were lost because of industrialization, which, combined with a lack of other jobs, has led to a substantial loss of population and to poverty in the city and the surrounding county. Port Gibson's population peaked in 1950. The last major employer, the Port Gibson Oil Works, a cottonseed mill, closed in 2002.

History

Port Gibson is the third-oldest European-American settlement in Mississippi. Its development began in 1729 by French colonists and was then within French-claimed territory known as '' La Louisiane''. The British acquired this area after the French ceded their colonies east of the Mississippi River in 1763, following their defeat in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. Following the U.S. acquisition of former French territory through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, more Americans entered the area. Port Gibson was chartered as a town that year on March 12, 1803. The federal government carried out Indian Removal in the 1830s, pushing the

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Cr ...

, including the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples, west of the Mississippi River 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, ...

. It took over their lands in the Southeast for sale and development by European Americans. Planters developed cotton plantations in the fertile river lowlands of the Mississippi Delta and other riverfront areas, dependent on the labor of enslaved Africans, initially brought from the Upper South. The African Americans comprised a majority in the county before the Civil War, and this continued. With international demand high for cotton, such planters prospered. As the planter population increased, they founded the Port Gibson Female College in 1843 to educate their daughters. The college later closed and one of its buildings now serves as the city hall. Similarly, they founded Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in 1879, a military preparatory boarding school which became co-ed in 1971. CHA was the legacy of Oakland College founded in 1830 in nearby Lorman. Oakland was closed during the Civil War and the Oakland campus was sold to the State of Mississippi to create Alcorn A&M College, the first land-grant college for African Americans. Chamberlain-Hunt closed its doors in 2014. In 1990, the first African American students graduated from Chamberlain-Hunt. Port Gibson was the site of several clashes during the

and figured in Union General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...

. He was attempting to gain control over the Mississippi River. The Battle of Port Gibson occurred on May 1, 1863, and resulted in the deaths of more than 200 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 ...

soldiers. The Confederate defeat resulted in their losing the ability to hold Mississippi and defend against an amphibious attack.

Later nineteenth century to present

Reportedly, many of the historic buildings in the town survived the Civil War because Grant proclaimed the city to be "too beautiful to burn". These words appear on the sign marking the city limits. Despite postwar economic upheaval, the city continued as a center of trade and economy associated with cotton. In 1882, the Port Gibson Oil Works started operating, established as one of the first

cottonseed oil Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly ''Gossypium hirsutum'' and ''Gossypium herbaceum'', that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil. cottonseed, Cotton seed has a similar structure to ...

plants in the United States.. This historic industrial building was listed on the

in 1979.. The mill finally closed in 2002. PortGibsonSynagogeExxon

'' Gemiluth Chessed'' synagogue, built in 1892, had an active congregation when the town was thriving as the county seat and a trading center. It had attracted nineteenth-century Jewish immigrants from the German states and Alsace-Lorraine. After starting as peddlers, the later generations of men became cotton brokers and merchants. This is the oldest

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

and the only

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

building in the state. It is topped by a Russian-style dome. As the economy changed, the Jewish population gradually moved to larger cities and areas offering more opportunity, and none remain in Port Gibson. The Rabbit's Foot Company was established in 1900 by Pat Chappelle, an African-American theatre owner in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. This was the leading traveling

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

show in the southern states, with an all-black cast of singers, musicians, comedians, and entertainers. After Chappelle's death in 1911, the company was taken over by Fred Swift Wolcott, a white planter. After 1918, he based the touring company at his plantation near Port Gibson, with offices in town. He continued to manage it until 1950, when he sold it. The Rabbit's Foot Company remained popular, but as some white performers joined and used

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

, it was no longer considered "authentic".Lynn Abbott, Doug Seroff, ''Ragged But Right: Black Traveling Shows, Coon Songs, and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz''
University Press of Mississippi, 2009, pp.248-268 In 2002 the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' characterized Port Gibson as 80 percent black and poor, with 20 percent of families living on incomes of less than $10,000 a year, according to the 2000 Census.PETER T. KILBORN, "A Vestige of King Cotton Fades Out in Mississippi", ''New York Times'', October 18, 2002.

Legacy

marker was placed in Port Gibson to commemorate the contribution the Rabbit's Foot Company made to the development of the

in Mississippi, in its decades of operation after the founder's death. In 2006, an exhibition, ''The Blues in Claiborne County: From Rabbit Foot Minstrels to Blues and Cruise'', was shown in Port Gibson, exploring the history of the show, with artifacts and memorabilia."Rabbit Foot Minstrel Exhibit in Port Gibson Until September 30, 2006". ''h-southern-music''
Retrieved 10 July 2014

Other National Register of Historic Places buildings and sites

* Van Dorn House, completed c. 1830, built by Peter Aaron Van Dorn, a lawyer, planter, and judge * McGregor, house designed in

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style by Van Dorn (above) for one of his daughters, completed 1835 * Windsor Ruins, 23 columns of a plantation house that burned c. 1890, located about ten miles southwest of the city that have been featured in two motion pictures * Wintergreen Cemetery, historic cemetery with burials of notable residents

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 , all land.

Climate

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,269 people, 554 households, and 290 families residing in the city.

Education

Port Gibson is served by the Claiborne County School District. Port Gibson High School is the comprehensive high school of the district. The Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, a private military boarding school, opened in Port Gibson in 1879. It was promoted as a Christian school in the late twentieth century. Nonetheless, it suffered declining enrollment and closed in 2014.

Notable people

* Samuel Reading Bertron, banker * Cleo W. Blackburn, educator *

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (25 December 1940 – 19 May 2023) was an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ...

, golfer, first

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 ...

to win on the PGA Tour * Jay Disharoon, lawyer and Mississippi legislator * Henry Hughes, lawyer, sociologist, state senator, and

colonel * Yolanda Moore, former professional basketball player and girls basketball coach * Jacob S. Raisin, rabbi * Irwin Russell, poet * Bob Shannon,

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

coach, known for his work in East St. Louis, Illinois * V. C. Shannon, born in Port Gibson in 1910, one-term member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

from

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, serving from 1972 to 1974 *

J. D. Short J. D. Short (December 26, 1902 – October 21, 1962) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, and harmonicist with a distinctive vibrato-laden singing voice. Early in his career, he recorded under a number of pseudonyms, including Jelly Jaw ...

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 ...

guitarist, singer, and harmonicist * James G. Spencer, U.S. Representative from 1895 to 1897 * Clement Sulivane, Confederate officer, politician, and member of the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

from 1878 to 1880 *

Earl Van Dorn Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820May 7, 1863) was an American Major General who started his military career as a United States Army officer and became famous for successfully leading two defenses of a Native American settlement from the Comanch ...

, Confederate Civil War general * Peter Aaron Van Dorn, lawyer, judge, plantation owner, and one of the founders of

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

* F. S. Wolcott, minstrel show proprietor

References

External links

*
Southern Lagniappe site - many architectural images

(from the

Institute of Southern Jewish Life An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

)
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