Jefferson County, Mississippi

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 527 sqmi, of which 520 sqmi is land and 7.3 sqmi (1.4%) is water.

Major highways

• [[Image:US 61.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 61
• [[Image:Circle sign 28.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 28
• [[Image:Circle sign 33.svg|20px]] Mississippi Highway 33

Adjacent counties

• Claiborne County (north)
• Copiah County (northeast)
• Lincoln County (southeast)
• Franklin County (south)
• Adams County (southwest)
• Tensas Parish, Louisiana (west)

National protected areas

• Homochitto National Forest (part)
• Natchez Trace Parkway (part)

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 7,260. The median age was 40.5 years. 23.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.8 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 12.3% White, 85.3% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.1% from some other race, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.0% of the population.

There were 2,865 households in the county, of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 27.1% were married-couple households, 24.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 43.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 3,346 housing units, of which 14.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.4% were owner-occupied and 26.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%.

Education

Jefferson County School District operates public schools in all of the county.

It is in the district of Copiah–Lincoln Community College, and has been since 1967.

Communities

City

• Fayette (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

• Cannonsburg
• Church Hill
• Harriston
• Lorman
• McBride
• Red Lick
• Union Church

Ghost towns or defunct

• Ashland (or Ashland Landing)
• Cane Ridge
• Coon Box
• Gum Ridge
• Old Greenville
• Rodney
• Shankstown
• Uniontown

Politics

Jefferson County is overwhelmingly Democratic, and has supported Democratic candidates in presidential elections with at least 80% of the vote since Bill Clinton in 1992, who won 79%. Republicans have not garnered even 25% of the vote in presidential elections since 1972 (when Jefferson was one of only three counties in Mississippi to vote for George McGovern).

The last Republican to win the county was Barry Goldwater. Although Goldwater lost nationally in a landslide, he carried the state of Mississippi (and also Jefferson County) in a landslide, winning over 87% of the vote and carrying every county. Jefferson County supported him with 95% of the vote. Goldwater's lopsided victory was the result of Mississippi's decades-long suppression of the voting rights of African Americans, which only began to be reversed with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Notable people

• Abijah Hunt, merchant who lived in Old Greenville during the Territorial Period, and owned a chain of stores and public cotton gins along the Natchez Trace
• David Hunt, Antebellum planter who lived on Woodlawn Plantation in Jefferson County, and became one of 12 planter millionaires in the Natchez District before the American Civil War.
• Zachary Taylor, U.S. president, planter, and soldier who often stayed on his plantation, Cypress Grove in Jefferson County, between 1840 and 1848.

Notes

References

References

1. "Census - Geography Profile: Jefferson County, Mississippi". [[United States Census Bureau]].
2. "Welcome to Jefferson County, MSGenWeb".
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
4. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
5. "Welcome to Jefferson County, MSGenWeb".
6. "[http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/25/king.sotu.mississippi/index.html King: They'll take small victories in struggling Mississippi county]." ''[[CNN]]''. September 25, 2009, Retrieved September 26, 2009.
7. (August 22, 2012). "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
8. "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024". United States Census Bureau.
9. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
11. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
13. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
14. "Explore Census Data".
15. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
16. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
17. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
18. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Jefferson County, MS". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
19. "History". [[Copiah–Lincoln Community College]].
20. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs".
21. "1964 Presidential General Election Results - Mississippi".
22. (April 16, 2021). "Freedom Summer ‑ Definition, Murders & Results".
23. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
24. [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/01243/cah-01243.html A Guide to the Abijah Hunt Papers, 1800-1821, 1880], The University of Texas at Austin: [[Briscoe Center for American History]]