Vaughan (also Vaughans or Vaughn) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Yazoo County, Mississippi Yazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,743, and was estimated to be 23,024 in 2024. The county seat is Yazoo City. It is named for the Yazoo River, which forms its weste ...

. The settlement is east of Yazoo City.

History

Vaughan was founded in 1830 and named for Henry Vaughan, who had established a plantation nearby. The town was established on an old

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

line and was for many years the main trading center of Yazoo County, including a large part of Madison County east of the Big Black River.

Casey Jones' railroad accident

The famous

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

accident that killed 37-year-old engineer

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1864 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Cen ...

happened near Vaughan in the early morning hours of April 30, 1900. On July 24, 1953, a ceremony was held at Vaughan, where more than 3,000 persons gathered to witness the unveiling of a bronze marker at the spot where Casey met his fate. In attendance were Sim Webb, Casey's fireman, and Janie Jones, Casey's widow. Beneath Casey's name, the following legend appeared: "A famous

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, the

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

of American railroading, and a postage stamp commemorate the colorful and courageous engineer who was killed in a wreck here in 1900." The marker is now missing; however, the marker's post remains and can be found at the following coordinates: . No plans by the State of Mississippi have been made to replace it.Trains Magazine - Desolation at Vaughan
/ref> The Casey Jones Railroad Museum State Park at Vaughan was designated a State Park on April 27, 1980. The museum began as a project of Massena Jones (no relation) in a building he owned across the road from the present site. The centerpiece of it was the damaged bell that was salvaged from the wreck site. In 2004 the museum closed, and years later, the depot was moved to

West, Mississippi West is a town in northeastern Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 153. The Mayor of West, MS as of December 2020 is Michael Fancher. History West made national news in 1989 when all-white East Ho ...

Education

Residents are a part of the Yazoo County School District, and are zoned to Linwood Elementary School (in Vaughan), Yazoo County Middle School and Yazoo County High School.

Notable person

Laurin Pepper Hugh McLaurin Pepper III (January 18, 1930 – February 4, 2018) was an American Major League Baseball player, All-American football player, and high school football coach. Born in Vaughan, Mississippi, he is a member of the University of Sout ...

, professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Yazoo County, Mississippi Populated places established in 1830 1830 establishments in Mississippi Casey Jones