Yalobusha County, Mississippi

Yalobusha County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 13,051. Its s are and.

History
Yalobusha is a word meaning " place," and before the  which bears that name was formed, it was the home of both  and  Indian tribes.

In 1816, General ordered the surveying of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Line. The line as surveyed then cut almost a perfect diagonal across the area making up the present day Yalobusha County.

The Choctaws ceded their lands to the  in  through the. Two years later, the Chickasaw signed the ceding their lands to the United States.

In, the authorized the formation of 17 counties, including Yalobusha, on what had been  land.

Yalobusha County was officially organized and its first officials elected,. The first held its first meeting at, then the largest settlement in the county.

Hendersonville was a settlement established in by, a  missionary who was one of the first white men to settle in the county. Other early settlements were Elliot, Chocchuma, Tuscohoma, Pittsburg, Talahoma, Plummerville, Preston, Pharsalia, Sardinia, and Washington.

At its first meeting the solicited donations of land for a, and at its second meeting, the Board selected a site and named it. The new town was named in honor of General, who represented the United States in the treaties with both the Choctaws and the Chickasaws. The next Board meeting was held in the new town, and in the first  in Coffeeville was built.

Later that same year, one of the early settlers in the northeastern part of the county,, established a stand near what is now. In the town of  was chartered.

Yalobusha County had a population of 12,248 in its first, taken in. In, a was opened at. Three years later, the post office and stagecoach stand were moved to land owned by, and the name of the post office was changed to Water Valley.

One prominent early Yalobusha County landowner was Representative, later President Polk, who purchased a south of Coffeeville in. After Polk's death, his wife managed the plantation successfully for several years.

In, the county's population was 17,258. In 1852, was formed, and a tier of  on the eastern border of Yalobusha County were taken to form part of the new county.

The built a branch line from  to, passing through Water Valley and Coffeeville, in the late. ICRR officials wanted to set up shops in Coffeeville, but could not obtain the property they wanted. Residents of the fledging town of Water Valley offered to donate the needed land to the ; therefore, the shops were located there, and Water Valley quickly became the largest town in the county. It was officially chartered in, and at that time had a population of 300.

In, the county's population was 16,952. Water Valley had become a thriving community with two hotels and several churches. The first church built in Water Valley was the built in. Two years later, the First Methodist Church was organized, and in the First Baptist Church of Water Valley was organized.

With the completion of the railroad from to the, and because the ICRR's shops were located there, Water Valley was an important railroad community at the outset of the. In 1862, troops captured Water Valley, and it remained in their control until the war ended.

After the war, the railroad shops were built at Water Valley, bringing a large influx of new residents to the town. In, Yalobusha County's first manufacturing industry, was the largest manufacturer of  anywhere in the world.

The in  created a number of new counties. was formed in and included nearly two tiers of  which had formerly been the southern part of Yalobusha County.

In March,, Yalobusha County was divided into two judicial districts, and Water Valley was named the county seat of the second judicial district. Because the town overlapped the Yalobusha-Lafayette County line, the legislature gave Yalobusha a two-mile strip of land from the southern portion of.

The town of was chartered in. In, Yalobusha County's population was 15,649.

In, Coffeeville's second courthouse burned. It had been built in at a cost of $25,000. A new courthouse, also costing $25,000, was built in. That year, the county population was 16,629.

Famed railroad engineer moved from  to Water Valley in. In, four years before his death in a train wreck which brought him fame, Jones moved back to Jackson.

A new courthouse was built in Water Valley in, and 16 years later, it burned. The second judicial district offices were moved to the, but within a month, it too burned. The courthouse was restored after the fire, and a third floor was added but never completed.

Yalobusha County's peaked in, with that year's  showing a population of 21,519. By, the population had fallen to 18,738, and it continued to decline steadily for the next 50 years.

Between -1928, Yalobusha County suffered two tremendous economic setbacks. In April, 1926,, which had employed approximately 450 people, burned. The next year, the ICRR began moving its railroad shops from Water Valley to. By the end of, these shops, which had at one time employed over 800 people in Water Valley, were gone.

In, the first Watermelon Carnival was held in Water Valley. The carnival was a great success, drawing 20,000 visitors to Water Valley. For the next nine years, the Watermelon Carnival was an annual event bringing national recognition to Water Valley, which was proclaimed the "Watermelon Capitol of the World" in. However, the Watermelon Carnival was suspended at the beginning of, and another one was not held until. Since this time it has been an annual event the first Saturday in August.

There was little industry in Yalobusha County after the war, and in, the county's population was down to 15,191. In the early the  began work on two flood control  in and around Yalobusha County, much to the distress of county farmers who lost thousands of acres of fertile bottom land. However, and, both completed in , have become popular recreation spots for local people and for visitors from throughout the nation.

Yalobusha County's population was 12,502 in 1960, and in 1970, it bottomed out at 11,915. The 1980 census shows that the county gained over 1,200 new residents since, giving it a population of 13,139.

Sine the, Yalobusha County has been successful in attracting new industries to boost its economic growth. Today, its two largest industrial employers have a combined total of well over 2,000 employees, and several other local industries provide hundreds of additional jobs for county residents.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,282 (495 ). 1,210 km² (467 sq mi) of it is land and 72 km² (28 sq mi) of it (5.63%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-55.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 51.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Circle sign 7.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Circle sign 32.svg|20px]]

Adjacent Counties

 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics


As of the of 2000, there were 13,051 people, 5,260 households, and 3,597 families residing in the county. The was 11/km² (28/sq mi). There were 6,224 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (13/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 60.46%, 38.66% or , 0.21% , 0.08% , 0.08% , 0.09% from , and 0.41% from two or more races. 0.97% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 5,260 households out of which 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.60% were living together, 17.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.60% were non-families. 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,315, and the median income for a family was $31,801. Males had a median income of $27,009 versus $20,236 for females. The for the county was $14,953. About 19.50% of families and 21.80% of the population were below the, including 30.10% of those under age 18 and 21.20% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

 * Cities


 * Towns


 * Unincorporated places