Silver City is a town in Humphreys 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. The population was 217 at the 2021 census, a massive decline from the 2000 census.

History

The town was first named "Palmetto Home", after a nearby

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

2023 tornado

On March 24, 2023, a destructive wedge tornado directly hit Silver City. Numerous people were injured and several buildings were destroyed. The same destructive tornado had previously hit the towns of Rolling Fork and

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

. The tornado was rated high-end EF4, although only EF2 damage occurred in the town.

Geography

Silver City is located in central Humphreys County at (33.095335, -90.495814), in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

region. It is bordered to the east by the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river primarily in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the Ame ...

. U.S. Route 49W passes through the town, leading north to Belzoni, 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 ...

, and south to Yazoo City.

Mississippi Highway 149 Mississippi Highway 149 (MS 149) is a state highway in Mississippi. The route designation is given to six former segments of U.S. Route 49 in Mississippi, U.S. Route 49 (US 49), and two former sections of U.S. Route 49W, US 49W, within the state ...

, an old alignment of US 49W, leads southwest from Silver City to Louise. 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 ...

, Silver City has a total area of , of which , or 3.56%, are water.

Demographics

2020 Census

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 337 people, 124 households, and 76 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 133 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 21.66%

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 ...

and 78.34%

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 ...

. There were 124 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.5% 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, 24.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.59. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.6% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 68.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $22,083, and the median income for a family was $20,000. Males had a median income of $23,125 versus $16,250 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 $15,459. About 36.6% of families and 49.3% 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 70.8% of those under age 18 and 38.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Silver City is served by the Humphreys County School District.

Notable people

* Spencer Haywood, participated on the US Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team, then played professionally * Jack Reed, professional baseball player and member of the

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

champion

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

References

{{Authority control Towns in Humphreys County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi