Van Buren is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

located in

Itawamba County, Mississippi Itawamba County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 23,863. Its county seat is Fulton. The county is part of the Tupelo, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county ...

. Once a busy port on the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties i ...

, Van Buren is today a rural farm community.

History

Van Buren was located on a high bluff on the river's west bank. It was named for

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

. North of Van Buren was Frog Level Swamp. Before Fulton was made 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 ...

in 1837, private homes and stores were used to conduct government business, including the store house of Elisha Thomas at Van Buren. Winfield Walker, a nephew of

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

, settled in Van Buren in 1838, and became a merchant. By 1840, Van Buren was the largest town in Itawamba County, and had a busy river port. The populations of both Fulton and Van Buren grew with settlers through the 1840s, and both had blacksmith shops, doctor's offices, stores, and lawyer's offices. A post office operated under the name Van Buren from 1839 to 1867. The completion of the

Mobile and Ohio Railroad Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

west of Van Buren in the late 1850s caused river traffic to diminish; the railway "ruined it and the old site is now under cultivation".

References

Former populated places in Itawamba County, Mississippi Former populated places in Mississippi {{US-ghost-town-stub