Winston County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. In the 2020 census, the population was 17,714. 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 ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. The county is named for Louis Winston (1784–1824), a colonel in the militia, a prominent lawyer, and a judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court. The county is the site of '' Nanih Waiya'', an ancient mound built in the

Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact i ...

, about 1 CE-300 CE. Since the 17th century, it has been venerated by the Choctaw people who later occupied the area.Ken Carleton, "Nanih Waiya: Mother Mound of the Choctaw"
''The Delta Endangered'', Spring 1996, Vol.1 (1), NPS Archeology Program, accessed November 16, 2009 As of 2008, the mound is owned by the

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians () is one of three federally recognized tribes of Choctaw, an indigenous Indian people, and the only one in the state of Mississippi. On April 20, 1945, this tribe was organized under the Indian Reorgan ...

, a federally-recognized tribe.

History

The county is one of sixteen formed when chief Greenwood LeFlore ceded the lands in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which resulted in the removal of the Choctaw Nation from their ancestral lands to Oklahoma. In 1863, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the Union Army under Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, marched through Louisville with 900 troops on a raid through Mississippi. There was no fighting in Winston County and no significant destruction of property.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Major highways

* Mississippi Highway 14 *

Mississippi Highway 15 Mississippi Highway 15 (MS 15) is a state highway in Mississippi. At almost , it is the longest highway in the Mississippi Highway System. MS 15 is divided into two sections due to a large gap between Stone County and Perry County. The south ...

Mississippi Highway 19 Mississippi Highway 19 (MS 19) is a state highway in Mississippi. It runs for , serving the counties of Lauderdale County, MS, Lauderdale, Newton County, MS, Newton, Neshoba County, MS, Neshoba, Winston County, MS, Winston, Attala County, MS, At ...

* Mississippi Highway 25

Adjacent counties

* Oktibbeha County (north) * Noxubee County (east) * Kemper County (southeast) * Neshoba County (south) * Attala County (west) * Choctaw County (northwest)

National protected area

* Tombigbee National Forest (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 17,714 people, 7,269 households, and 4,737 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 19,198 people living in the county. 51.9% were

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 ...

, 45.6% Black or African American, 1.1% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% of some other race and 0.9% of two or more races. 1.0% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

2000 census

At the 2000

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 ...

, there were 20,160 people, 7,578 households and 5,471 families living in the county. 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 ...

was . There were 8,472 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 55.26%

, 43.25%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.66% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. 1.21% 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 7,578 households, of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.90% 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, 18.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.80% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.09. 26.80% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.30 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $28,256, and the median family income was $33,602. Males had a median income of $28,665 versus $18,210 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 $14,548. About 19.40% of families and 23.70% 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 32.90% of those under age 18 and 18.90% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

(county seat)

Town

* Noxapater

Unincorporated communities

* Highpoint * Vernon * Rocky Hill Rd, Winston County, Mississippi * Nanih Waiya

Ghost towns

* Perkinsville * Randalls Bluff * Singleton

Education

There are three public high schools in Winston County, Louisville High School (Louisville Wildcats), Nanih Waiya Attendance Center (Nanih Waiya Warriors) and Noxapater Attendance Center (Noxapater Tigers). In addition, there are two private schools, Winston Academy also known as (W.A.) or (Winston Patriots), established in 1969 as a segregation academy, and Grace Christian School (Eagles) in Louisville which was founded in 1970.

Politics

Winston County has voted majority Republican since 1980, often by double digits, despite nearly half of the population being African American, a demographic which tends to lean Democratic.

Notable people

* Andy Kennedy - basketball player and coach

References

{{coord, 33.09, -89.04, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MS_source:UScensus1990 Mississippi counties 1833 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1833 Majority-minority counties in Mississippi