Tate County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,064. Its

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 ...

is Senatobia. Organized in 1873 during the Reconstruction era, from portions of DeSoto, Marshall, and Tunica counties, the county is named for Thomas Simpson Tate, one of the first prominent American settlers of the area. Tate County is part of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located about south of Memphis and one county east of the Mississippi River. This fertile river valley was developed for cotton cultivation in the 19th century.

History

As it was developed for cotton culture in the antebellum years, planters in the county depended on the labor of African American slaves. Blacks comprised a majority of the population for many decades. After Reconstruction, whites sometimes enforced their dominance through political intimidation or violence against blacks. In 1932, a deputy sheriff and son of County Sheriff C.A. Williams, was allegedly shot by a black man, Jesse Williams. Sheriff Williams illegally organized a posse and murdered at least five and possibly as many as seven black people, family members of a man known as "Judge" Crawford. A month later Jesse Williams was caught, "tried" and lynched by hanging. No charges were ever considered against the sheriff or lynch mob.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water. It is the third-smallest county in Mississippi by land area.

Major highways

* Interstate 55 * U.S. Route 51 * Mississippi Highway 3 * Mississippi Highway 4 * Mississippi Scenic Highway 304 * Mississippi Highway 305 * Mississippi Highway 306 * Mississippi Highway 740

Adjacent counties

* DeSoto County (north) * Marshall County (east) * Lafayette County (southeast) * Panola County (south) * Tunica County (west)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 28,064 people, 10,324 households, and 7,580 families residing in the county.

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 25,370 people, 8,850 households, and 6,717 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,354 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 67.84%

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 ...

, 31.02% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.25% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. 0.88% of the population were

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. There were 8,850 households, out of which 36.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.00% were married couples living together, 15.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.10% were non-families. 21.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.18. As of 2000, the county's population was spread out, with 27.10% under the age of 18, 11.70% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,836, and the median income for a family was $41,423. Males had a median income of $33,064 versus $21,154 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 county was $16,154. About 10.60% of families and 13.50% 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 14.20% of those under age 18 and 21.10% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

* Senatobia (county seat)

Town

* Coldwater

Census-designated places

* Arkabutla * Independence * Strayhorn

Unincorporated communities

* Cottonville * Looxahoma * Sarah * Savage * Thyatira * Tyro

Education

The school districts are:
Text list
/ref> * Senatobia Municipal School District * Tate County School District

Politics

Tate County has, since 1980, been a Republican stronghold, having shifted from being nearly unanimously Democratic for the first half of the 20th Century.

Notable people

* Actor James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, an unincorporated area of Tate County and lived here for five years. He was sent north to live with his maternal grandparents on their farm in Jackson, Michigan.

References

External links

Tate County Economic Development Foundation

The Democrat
- Weekly newspaper serving Tate County.
Tate County Sheriff
{{authority control Mississippi counties Counties in the Memphis metropolitan area 1873 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1873