Smithville, Mississippi
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Smithville is a town in Monroe 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 509 at the 2020 census, down from 942 in
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
.


History

Smithville is located on lands purchased from
Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
chief Che-lah-cha-chubby in 1836. The town is named for William Smith, an early settler who established a store at the site around 1840. The town was incorporated in 1845.


2011 tornado

On April 27, 2011, at approximately 3:45 p.m. CDT, an EF5 tornado struck the town with winds which were estimated to have peaked at . A total of 16 people were killed, and 40 people were injured.Public Information Statement
April 29, 2011,
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...
-
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
Weather Forecast Office, Memphis, TN. Retrieved May 1, 2011
In total, 117 structures were destroyed and 50 more sustained major damage from the storm in Monroe County alone, before the tornado continued into Itawamba County. In Smithville, an SUV was lofted and thrown a half mile into the water tower, making a dent, before being carried even further downwind. Other damage included the destruction of the city hall, post office, police station, and four churches, along with appliances and plumbing fixtures being shredded or ripped away from foundations and numerous granite tombstones being knocked down.


Geography

Smithville is located in northern Monroe County at (34.068605, -88.395486). The town is situated along the east bank of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The waterway's
Glover Wilkins Lock The Glover Wilkins Lock (formerly named Lock B) is a lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between dif ...
is located just downstream (west). Mississippi Highway 25 traverses Smithville, connecting the town with Fulton to the north and Amory to the south. According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, the town has a total area of , of which are land and , or 7.71%, are water.


Demographics

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 882 people, 365 households, and 243 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
602.1 people per square mile (233.2/km). There were 404 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town is 97.62%
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 ...
, 1.59%
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 ...
, 0.11% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.23% from other races, and 0.23% 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 365 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% 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, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.4% had someone living alone who 65 years of age or older. The average household size 2.42 and the average family size 3.03. In the town, the population spread out, with 26.2% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males. The median income for a household in the town $32,583, and the median income for a family $38,750. Males had a median income of $30,294 versus $23,958 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 $14,030. About 7.1% of families and 11.2% 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 9.7% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.


Education

Smithville is served by the Monroe County School District. Smithville High School won two 1A football state championships in 1993 and 1998. The school previously vied for the title in 1989, losing to a Mt. Olive (MS) team quarterbacked by future NFL great Steve McNair. The Smithville High School softball team has won the 1A state championship in 2008, 2011, and 2012. The Smithville High School Band has won two state marching championships.


Notable people

* Rod Brasfield, a member of the
Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
and former member of the
Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
* Anthony J. Cox, former member of the
Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...
* Mississippi Slim, country singer and former member of the Grand Ole Opry * Frances Irene Reels, screenwriter and actress


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in Monroe County, Mississippi Towns in Mississippi