Leflore County, Mississippi

"Leflore County" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Le Flore County, Oklahoma.

Leflore County, Mississippi
Leflore County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Founded	1871
Named for	Greenwood LeFlore
Seat	Greenwood
Largest city	Greenwood
Area
• Total	606 sq mi (1,570 km2)
• Land	593 sq mi (1,536 km2)
• Water	14 sq mi (36 km2), 2.3%
Population
• (2010)	32,317
• Density	55/sq mi (21/km²)
Congressional district	2nd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Leflore County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,317. The county seat is Greenwood. The county is named for Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore, who signed a treaty to cede his people's land to the United States in exchange for land in Indian Territory. LeFlore stayed in Mississippi, settling on land reserved for him in Tallahatchie County.

Leflore County is part of the Greenwood, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is located in the Mississippi Delta region, with its southern border formed by the Yazoo River. Its riverfront lands were developed before the Civil War as cotton plantations. More inland areas were developed in the later 19th century.

Leflore County, which is still largely rural, is noted for having the highest level of child poverty of any county in the United States. Mechanization of agriculture reduced jobs available for many workers in the 20th century, and there are few opportunities. The population has declined dramatically since its peak in 1930 as people continue to leave for opportunities elsewhere.

History

Leflore County was formed in 1871 during the Reconstruction era from portions of Carroll, Sunflower and Tallahatchie counties. It was named for Greenwood Leflore, a Choctaw chief. During the period of Indian Removal in the 1830s, he was one of the chiefs who signed the Treaty of 1830, by the terms of which the Choctaw sold to the US their remaining lands east of the Mississippi River. Most Choctaw migrated to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), but Leflore and some others remained in Mississippi. He became a state and US citizen, a planter owning African-American slaves, and at times served as a politician.

Following the American Civil War, during Reconstruction the majority-black population of freedmen in the county gained emancipation and suffrage, participating for the first time in formal politics. They supported the Republican Party, as President Abraham Lincoln had gained their freedom. In the mid-1870s, the paramilitary Red Shirts developed chapters in Mississippi. They worked to disrupt Republican meetings, suppress the black vote, and turn Republicans out of office so that white Democrats could regain control of the state legislature.

In 1890 the state legislature passed a new constitution that had a variety of devices to disenfranchise blacks; they developed ways around court cases that tried to dismantle these, and kept blacks excluded from the political system and racially segregated into the 1960s. In the first half of the 20th century, many blacks left rural counties such as Leflore, in the Great Migration to northern and midwestern industrial cities in search of jobs and education: many people went north by train to Chicago, taking their music with them and changing the big city forever.

As with other parts of the majority-black Delta, Leflore County was a major site of activism and violence during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). In 1963, the county had more than 13,000 blacks of legal voting age, and fewer than 270 were registered because of discrimination and suppression by whites. Blacks had been essentially disfranchised since implementation of Mississippi's new constitution in 1890, establishing poll taxes, literacy tests and other registration barriers. Meanwhile 95% of eligible white voters were registered.

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee had moved its headquarters to Greenwood in early 1963, and by late March of that year, eight SNCC members were arrested while trying to register voters. The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division filed suit against the city of Greenwood and Leflore county to obtain their release. The petition was denied by a local court, but the city of Greenwood entered into a voluntary agreement to release the students. In June 1963, 45 residents of Itta Bena were arrested in Leflore County while protesting an attack on churches where voter registration drives were being held. The Civil Rights Division filed suit against the county to obtain their release as well, but to no avail. Passage of civil rights legislation by Congress in 1964 and 1965 began to change the ground rules.

Organizers and marchers returned in 1966 to the county as part of the March Against Fear, initiated by James Meredith, who was shot and wounded by a white man two days into the march. Major civil rights leaders and marchers from a variety of organizations vowed to continue his march of more than 220 miles from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi. By the time they reached Greenwood, several hundred persons were in the group. They worked to organize and register voters, as most blacks in the county still lived in fear and had not registered. After previous attempts, the white county board had cut off federal commodity subsidies to the black community, threatening the survival of numerous poor families. SNCC helped organize a national gathering of food for county residents to overcome the boycott.

In 1966, Stokeley Carmichael, a new leader of SNCC, spoke in Greenwood for "Black Power", saying that blacks had to build their own bases of political and economic power, as had Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants to the United States.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 606 square miles (1,570 km²), of which 593 square miles (1,540 km²) is land and 14 square miles (36 km²) (2.3%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Route 49
• U.S. Route 82
• Mississippi Highway 7
• Mississippi Highway 8

Adjacent counties

• Tallahatchie County (north)
• Grenada County (northeast)
• Carroll County (east)
• Holmes County (southeast)
• Humphreys County (southwest)
• Sunflower County (west)

National protected area

• Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge
• Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	10,246		—
1890	16,869		64.6%
1900	23,834		41.3%
1910	36,290		52.3%
1920	37,256		2.7%
1930	53,506		43.6%
1940	53,406		−0.2%
1950	51,813		−3.0%
1960	47,142		−9.0%
1970	42,111		−10.7%
1980	41,525		−1.4%
1990	37,341		−10.1%
2000	37,947		1.6%
2010	32,317		−14.8%
Est. 2014	31,422		−2.8%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 32,317 people residing in the county. 72.2% were Black or African American, 24.9% White, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 1.5% of some other race and 0.6% of two or more races. 2.3% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census of 2000, there were 37,947 people, 12,956 households, and 8,887 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 people per square mile (25/km²). There were 14,097 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile (9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 30.00% White, 67.73% Black or African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.98% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. 1.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the census of 2000, the largest ancestry groups in Leflore County were African 67.73%, English 19%, and Scots-Irish 9.4%

There were 12,956 households out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.00% were married couples living together, 27.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.40% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the county the population was spread out with 29.70% under the age of 18, 13.10% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 18.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 92.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $21,518, and the median income for a family was $26,059. Males had a median income of $25,959 versus $18,497 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,553. About 29.10% of families and 34.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.00% of those under age 18 and 24.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The Delta Correctional Facility, operated by the Corrections Corporation of America on behalf of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, is located in Greenwood in Leflore County.

Education

• Colleges and Universities
  • Mississippi Valley State University
    • It is located 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Itta Bena in an unincorporated area.

• Public School Districts
  • Greenwood Public School District
  • Leflore County School District

• Private Schools
  • Pillow Academy — formerly a segregation academy.

Communities

Cities

• Greenwood (county seat)
• Itta Bena

Towns

• Morgan City
• Schlater
• Sidon

Unincorporated communities

• Berclair
• Browning
• McNutt
• Minter City (partly in Tallahatchie County)
• Money
• Rising Sun
• Ruby
• Shellmound
• Sunnyside
• Swiftown
• Quito
• Wildwood

Ghost town

• Colony Town

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Leflore County, Mississippi

External links

• Leflore County website