Princeton is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

located in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. Once a busy port on 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 ...

, Princeton today is covered by forest and a portion of the Mississippi Levee. Nothing remains of the settlement.

History

Princeton was named for William Berry Prince, who settled on nearby Lake Jackson with his wife Sarah S. Jefferies in the early 1820s. Princeton was one of the first towns in the Mississippi Delta. In 1830, Princeton became Washington County's second county seat after the first county seat,

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 ...

, caved into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River flowed directly west of Princeton, and Princeton Landing was the town's port. Across the river in Arkansas was the now-extinct town of Grand Lake. The Mississippi Legislature incorporated the Lake Washington and Deer Creek Railroad and Banking Company in 1836. Based in Princeton, the railroad began constructing a line east from the town to Lake Washington and Deer Creek. The intent was to move cotton by railroad to Princeton, where it could be shipped by boat along the Mississippi River. Only a portion of the railroad bed was completed before the company's charter was repealed in 1839. In 1838, the steamer '' Oronoko'' was anchored in the port at Princeton when a boiler blew, killing between 100 and 150 on board. Most of the passengers were recent immigrants traveling north from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. After a second explosion on the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

that same week killed 150, the U.S. government passed its first legislation requiring steamboat owners to take measures to protect those on board. An early settler to Washington County was Junius Richard Ward, who amassed a fortune in hemp, cotton, and mercantile and shipping interests. Ward built a mansion near Lake Washington, and also owned Ward Hall in Kentucky. Ward erected a 40-room mansion—against the advice of friends—overlooking the Mississippi River north of Princeton. At its peak, Princeton had 600 residents, 12 stores, an inn, a bank, a private school, and a livery stable. The county seat was moved to Greenville in 1844. By 1850, most of the town had caved into the river. The last remaining merchant, S.B. Lawson, sold the townsite and remaining buildings to a former slave for $125. In 1858, Ward's mansion washed away in a flood. The Mississippi River has since changed its course several miles west, and the former townsite is now located next to Carolina Chute, an oxbow lake.

Notable people

* William H. Hammett, U.S. Representative from Mississippi.

References

External links

Map from 1842
showing the location of Princeton in Mississippi {{authority control Former populated places in Washington County, Mississippi Former populated places in Mississippi Mississippi populated places on the Mississippi River Former county seats in Mississippi