Sherman is a town which straddles Lee, Pontotoc, and Union counties in

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 ...

. The population was 600 at the 2020 census.

History

In 1840 Reuben Jones and John Witt settled what is now the Sherman community fourteen miles northeast of Pontotoc, however the town owes its formation and growth to the building of the old Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad. When the operation of trains was begun on the newly built railroad in 1886 a station was established and named Sherman by a resident who had formerly lived in

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...

. R.P. Kelly built the first home in the spring of 1886. Other citizens and businessmen of the town were John Witt, J.E. Wade, and John Johnson. The Mississippi Normal Institute was founded in 1889 by Professor J.N. Davis and a boarding house was maintained in connection with the institute. The institute flourished for several years with an enrollment of 300 but with the development of the public school system its patronage dwindled and about 1903 it was consolidated with the public school at Sherman. The following excerpt from the ''Pontotoc Democrat'' of September 19, 1890, describes the town: "Ninety-four miles from Memphis, 158 miles from Birmingham on the K C M & B Railroad is the thriving little town of Sherman. Her population has almost doubled in the last twelve months. She is surrounded by the best fanning lands in the State. She has 35 dwellings, 6 stores, 2 doctors, no graveyards, a ~40,000 school building and destined to be the Jupiter in the educational world.”

Geography

Sherman lies northwest of Tupelo, and is concentrated in an area north of

Interstate 22 Interstate 22 (I-22) is a Interstate Highway in the US states of Mississippi and Alabama, connecting I-269 near Byhalia, Mississippi, to I-65 near Birmingham, Alabama. I-22 is also Corridor X of the Appalachian Development Highway ...

and south of Mississippi Highway 178. Most of the town is in Pontotoc County with a portion extending north into Union County and a tiny portion extending east into Lee County. In the 2000 census, 425 of the town's 548 residents (77.6%) lived in Pontotoc County, 122 (22.3%) in Union County, and 1 (0.2%) in Lee County. According to the

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, the town has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.8 km), all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 600 people, 289 households, and 180 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 548 people, 241 households, and 153 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 263 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 83.39%

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, 16.06%

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, 0.36% Native American, and 0.18% from two or more races.

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or Latino of any race were 0.36% of the population. There were 241 households, out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% 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, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.95. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $21,667, and the median income for a family was $29,844. Males had a median income of $29,038 versus $18,958 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 $11,301. About 20.4% of families and 20.9% 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 19.0% of those under age 18 and 22.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The town of Sherman is served by three school districts based on the county the land resides in. Most of the town is served by the Pontotoc County School District, while the Union County portion is served by the Union County School District. The Lee County School District serves the small portion of Sherman that lies in Lee County.

Government

The town's government is headed by the mayor and five aldermen who serve four-year terms.

Notable person

* Dode Criss, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Lee County, Mississippi Towns in Pontotoc County, Mississippi Towns in Union County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi Towns in Tupelo micropolitan area