Winona, Mississippi

Winona is a city in Montgomery County, Mississippi. The population was 5,482 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County. Winona is known in the local area as "The Crossroads of North Mississippi" due to its central location at the intersection of U.S. Interstate 55 and U.S. Highways 51 and 82.

Middleton
Middleton, Mississippi was a town that was located west of Winona's current geographical position. It is sometimes considered the predecessor to the current town, Winona.

Winona
Born as a result of the railroad being built here instead of at Middleton to the west in 1860, Winona was originally a part of Carroll County and was incorporated as a town on May 2, 1861. The first settler of the town was Colonel O.J. Moore, who arrived from Virginia in 1848. What is now the business part of town was then a cultivated field on Colonel Moore's property. The railroad passed through his property and the railway station was placed near his plantation home. An influx of settlers started after the location of the railroad and Winona became a busy town.

Captain William Witty, an early settler from North Carolina, was for years a leading Winona merchant and established the first bank in the county. Other names seen among the early settlers were: Curtis, Burton, Palmer, Spivey, Townsend, Hart, Turner and Campbell. The early businesses were mainly grocery stores.

In 1871, Montgomery County was formed from portions of Carroll and other counties, and Winona became the county seat of the newly formed county. A yellow fever epidemic struck the area in 1878, and caused many of the towns citizens to die and many to leave.

In April 1888, a great fire destroyed almost the entire business section of the town. Forty of the 50 businesses burned.

Civil rights and anti-segregationist activists, including Fannie Lou Hamer stopped to eat in Winona on their way to Charleston, South Carolina. On June 9, 1963, Hamer was on her way back from Charleston, South Carolina with other activists from a literacy workshop. Stopping in Winona, Mississippi, the group was arrested on a false charge and jailed by white policemen. Once in jail, Hamer and her colleagues were, per orders of local law officers, beaten savagely by inmates of the Montgomery County jail, almost to the point of death.

While touring the country, Martin Luther King Jr. made a stop in Winona during which he was ambushed by the local barber, Ryan Lynch, an outspoken white supremacist. King was saved by his assigned bodyguard – a local police officer named Garrit Howard.

Demographics
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 5,043 people residing in the city. 52.8% were Black or African American, 45.8% White, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% of some other race and 0.4% of two or more races. 0.5% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,482 people, 2,098 households, and 1,456 families residing in the city. The population density was 420.0 PD/sqmi. There were 2,344 housing units at an average density of 179.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 48.10% White, 50.73% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.04% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.89% of the population.

There were 2,098 households out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 24.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 78.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 70.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,160, and the median income for a family was $31,619. Males had a median income of $30,163 versus $17,549 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,700. About 24.5% of families and 27.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.6% of those under age 18 and 24.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

 * Todd Auer, NFL football player
 * William Billingsley, Naval pilot
 * Little Sammy Davis, blues musician
 * Jane Holmes Dixon, Episcopal Bishop of Washington Pro-Tempore
 * Wade Griffin, NFL football player
 * E. W. Hammons, film producer
 * James Michael Tyler, actor
 * Chip Oliver, NFL football player
 * Donald H. Peterson, astronaut
 * Roebuck Staples, Gospel and R&B musician
 * Chris White, NFL football player

Geography and climate
Winona is located at 33.48889°N, -89.73139°W (33.488845, −89.731451).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.1 sqmi, of which 13.1 sqmi is land and 0.04 sqmi (0.31%) is water.

Economy
Winona has recently received water and power across I-55 which has allowed more businesses, such as Pilot, to develop. Due to the late development of water and power across I-55, Winona has until now been hindered in its ability to grow.

Pilot Anchoring
In May 2005, the economy of Winona got a slight boost with the incoming of Pilot Travel Centers. The company, a small truckstop/travelcenter chain, purchased the High Point truck and travel center, previously owned by NFL player Kent Hull, for a reported $4.6 million. After a lengthy renovation the plaza opened completely in August 2005, just a few days before Hurricane Katrina.

Public schools

 * Winona Separate School District
 * Winona Vocational Complex

Private schools

 * Winona Christian School

Newspapers

 * The Winona Times

FM Radio

 * 95.1 WONA: country music