Corinth, Mississippi

Corinth is a city in Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,054 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Alcorn County. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835.

History


Corinth was founded in 1853 as Cross City, so-called because it served as a junction for the Mobile & Ohio and Memphis & Charleston railroads. It was the town's early newspaper editor, W.E. Gibson, who suggested the name of Corinth, named for the city in Greece that also served as a crossroads.

Corinth's location at the junction of two railroads made it strategically important to the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard retreated to Corinth after the Battle of Shiloh, pursued by Union Major General Henry W. Halleck. General Beauregard abandoned the town when General Halleck approached, letting it fall into the Union's hands. Since Halleck approached so cautiously, digging entrenchments at every stop for over a month, this action has been known as the Siege of Corinth.

The Union sent Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans to Corinth as well and concentrated its forces in the city. The Second Battle of Corinth took place on October 3–4, 1862, when Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn attempted to retake the city. The Confederate troops won back the city for a very brief period but were quickly forced out again on the same day when the Union troops were reinforced.

Locales on the National Register of Historic Places

 * Battery Williams (also known as Fort Williams)
 * Battle of Corinth, Confederate Assault Position
 * Coliseum Theatre - built in the early 20th century in the Colonial Revival style
 * Corinth National Cemetery
 * Downtown Corinth Historic District
 * Dr. Joseph M. Bynum House - a home in the Late Gothic Revival style built in the late 19th century
 * Federal Siege Trench (also known as Harper Road Trench)
 * Fort Robinette (also known as Battery Robinette) - site of the Civil War Interpretive Center
 * Jacinto Courthouse (also called the Old Tishomingo County Courthouse) - built in the mid-19th century in the Federal style
 * L.C. Steele House
 * Midtown Corinth Historic District
 * Moores Creek site - a prehistoric Native American site from 3000 to 3500 B.C.
 * Old U.S. Post Office
 * Rienzi Commercial Historic District
 * Thomas F. Dilworth House
 * Union Battery F, Battle of Corinth
 * Union Earthworks
 * Veranda House (also known as the Curlee House) - built in 1857, it served as headquarters for Confederate generals during the Battle of Corinth

Geography
Corinth is located in northeast Mississippi at the intersection of (north/south) U.S. Route 45 and (east/west) U.S. Route 72. It is the county seat of Alcorn County, which is the smallest county in area in the state of Mississippi. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.6 sqmi, of which 30.5 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi (0.43%) is water.

Communities near Corinth

 * Eastview, Tennessee - 9.85 mi
 * Farmington - 3.97 mi
 * Guys, Tennessee - 7.24 mi
 * Kossuth - 8.21 mi
 * Michie, Tennessee - 9.75 mi
 * Ramer, Tennessee - 10.92 mi

Rivers and streams

 * Bridge Creek
 * Elam Creek
 * Phillips Creek
 * Turner Creek

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,054 people, 6,220 households, and 3,800 families residing in the city. The population density was 461.5 people per square mile (178.2/km²). There were 7,058 housing units at an average density of 231.8 per square mile (89.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.28% White, 21.60% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.73% of the population.

There were 6,220 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 85.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,436, and the median income for a family was $35,232. Males had a median income of $29,027 versus $21,071 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,452. About 18.2% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.2% of those under age 18 and 23.9% of those age 65 or over.

Thomas Hal Phillips, 1922-2007
Corinth is very proud to be the home of Thomas Hal Phillips, one of America's first gay authors and a well-known Hollywood screenwriter. Phillips is best known for The Bitterweed Path, a novel depicting the relationship of two young men in the Southern United States at the turn of the century. After returning from World War II, Phillips had a bright and successful career producing screenplays in Hollywood throughout the 1950s, '60s, and early '70s. Phillips found retirement in his beloved home of Corinth and died there in 2007.

Works by Thomas Hal Phillips include:


 * ''The Loved and the Unloved
 * The Golden Lie
 * Search for a Hero
 * The Bitterweed Path
 * Kangaroo Hollow
 * Red Midnight
 * Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
 * Walking Tall II
 * O. C. and Stiggs
 * Ode to Billy Joe
 * Tarzan's Fight for Life
 * Huckleberry Finn
 * The Time Machine
 * Minstrel Man
 * Nightmare in Badham County
 * Nashville''

Public Schools

 * Corinth School District
 * Alcorn Alternative School
 * Alcorn Central Elementary - grades K-4, with enrollment of 520
 * Alcorn Central Middle School - grades 5-8 with an enrollment of 539
 * Alcorn Central High School - grades 9-12 with an enrollment of 515
 * Biggersville Elementary - grades K-6 with an enrollment of 161
 * Biggersville High School grades 7-12 with an enrollment of 236
 * Corinth High School - grades 9-12 with an enrollment of 473
 * Corinth Junior High School - grades 7-8 with an enrollment of 265
 * Corinth Elementary School - grades k-4
 * Kossuth Elementary School - grades K-4 with an enrollment of 562
 * Kossuth High School - grades 9-12 with an enrollment of 438
 * Kossuth Middle School - grades 5-8 with an enrollment of 499
 * Easom High School(the only African American school in the city before the segregation)(currently home of South Corinth Elementary School)

Libraries

 * Corinth Public Library - part of the Northeast Regional Library System

Museums

 * Northeast Mississippi Museum
 * Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center (part of the National Park Service)
 * Artist Guild Museum and Shop
 * Museum of Southern Culture
 * Black History Museum

Health care
Magnolia Regional Health Center
 * Veranda Health Center

Highways

 * U.S. Route 45 - runs north-south from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico
 * U.S. Route 72 - runs east-west from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Memphis
 * Mississippi Highway 2 - runs southwest from the Tennessee state line to Hickory Flat
 * Mississippi Highway 145

Air travel

 * Roscoe Turner Airport
 * Dilworth Airport

Newspapers

 * The Daily Corinthian

FM & AM radio stations

 * WKCU 1350  Christian Music
 * WXRZ 94.3  News and Talk / Supertalk Mississippi (Mississippi political and local)
 * WADI 95.3  95.3 The Bee / Country

Notable residents and natives
Corinth is the hometown of famed early American aviator Roscoe Turner, noted American screenwriter and novelist Thomas Hal Phillips, his brother, the Republican pioneer Rubel Phillips, Mississippi artist and poet J. E. Pitts, Poet and Philosopher Rufus Turner and the rock band Saving Abel, longtime lawman M.W. Baggett, Current Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum, and Thomas K. McCraw, educator. Corinth, MS is also home to film star Michael Conner Humphreys, who appeared as young Forrest Gump in the 1994 Academy Award winning film, Forrest Gump.