Scooba is a town in Kemper County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1858, the population was 744 as of the 2020 Census.

Etymology

Scooba is a

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

word meaning "reed brake" (i.e., a farming tool used on reeds), and the early settlement was noted for its productive farmland.

History

The first permanent settlement at Scooba was made in the 1830s. A line of the

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...

passed through Scooba. A Democratic weekly newspaper, ''The Kemper Herald'', was established in Scooba in 1876. By the early 1900s, Scooba had several residential homes, a hotel, a livery barn, a post office, two saw milling plants, a cotton gin, a general store, five churches (three white and two colored), a school, and a bank (the Bank of Kemper, established in 1904). Scooba was a local market for cotton. In late December 1906, Scooba and

Wahalak, Mississippi Wahalak is a small unincorporated area, unincorporated community in central Kemper County, Mississippi, Kemper County, Mississippi, United States. History The community is named for Wahalak Creek. Wahalak likely comes from a Choctaw language, Cho ...

, were the sites of white rioting against blacks. In the various conflicts, which started with confrontations between passengers and conductors on the railroad, a total of 12 blacks and two whites were killed by December 26. The county sheriff called in the state militia for assistance. The events were covered by national newspapers."Whites in Race War Kill Blacks Blindly/ Innocent Negroes Shot in the Mississippi Trouble"
''New York Times'', December 26, 1906; accessed March 20, 2017

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 town has a total area of , all land. Scooba is adjacent to U.S. Route 45, Mississippi Highway 16, and a railroad. It is north of Meridian and south of Columbus.CATALOG 2007-2009
." East Mississippi Community College. 8 (8/147). Retrieved on March 1, 2011.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 744 people, 191 households, and 107 families residing in the town.

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 632 people, 204 households, and 139 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 244 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 54.91%

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 ...

, 44.30%

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 ...

, 0.16% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races.

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 were 0.79% of the population. There were 204 households, out of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% 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, 27.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 29.7% from 18 to 24, 19.5% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 127.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 134.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $18,875, and the median income for a family was $31,375. Males had a median income of $30,500 versus $29,063 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 town was $12,110. About 30.3% of families and 25.5% 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 27.2% of those under age 18 and 15.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Town of Scooba is served by the Kemper County School District. The main campus of East Mississippi Community College, including the college system's administrative headquarters, is in Scooba. EMCC was featured on the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

documentary '' Last Chance U'', which chronicled their 2015 and 2016 football seasons.

Notable people

* Abner M. Aust - United States Air Force officer and World War II flying ace. * Kevin Granger - professional basketball player. * Charles Jones - played four seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. * John J. Pettus - 23rd Governor of Mississippi; moved to Scooba at age 22.

References

External links

* * *
Scooba Library
at the Kemper-Newton Regional Library System] {{DEFAULTSORT:Scooba, Mississippi 1858 establishments in Mississippi Meridian micropolitan area Mississippi placenames of Native American origin Populated places established in 1858 Railway towns in Mississippi Towns in Kemper County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi