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Choctaw County, Mississippi facts for kids

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Choctaw County
U.S. county
French Camp. Historic Mississippi cabin.
French Camp. Historic Mississippi cabin.
Map of Mississippi highlighting Choctaw County
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Map of the United States highlighting Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Mississippi
Founded 1833
Named for Choctaw people
Seat Ackerman
Largest town Ackerman
Area
 • Total 420 sq mi (1,100 km2)
 • Land 418 sq mi (1,080 km2)
 • Water 1.7 sq mi (4 km2)  0.4%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 8,547
 • Estimate 
(2018)
 8,278
 • Density 20.35/sq mi (7.86/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district 1st

Choctaw County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,547. Its northern border is the Big Black River, which flows southwest into the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg. The county seat is Ackerman.

The county is named after the Choctaw tribe of Native Americans. They had long occupied this territory as their homeland before European exploration. Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, they were forced by the United States to cede their lands and to move west of the Mississippi River to what became Indian Territory (today's state of Oklahoma).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 420 square miles (1,100 km2), of which 418 square miles (1,080 km2) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2) (0.4%) is water. The Big Black River forms the county's northern border.

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

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

Demographics

The adjacent table reflects major decreases in population from 1910 to 1920, and from 1940 to 1960. These were periods of the Great Migration from the South by African Americans, who first moved to jobs in industrial cities in the North and Midwest. In the 1940s and after, they moved to the West Coast for jobs in the rapidly growing defense industry. Farm work declined with mechanization of agriculture. But blacks also migrated to escape the violence and social repression of Mississippi, where they had been essentially disenfranchised since 1890 and lived under Jim Crow laws and the threat of violence; the state had a high rate of lynchings.

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1840 6,010 —
1850 11,402 89.7%
1860 15,722 37.9%
1870 16,988 8.1%
1880 9,036 −46.8%
1890 10,847 20.0%
1900 13,036 20.2%
1910 14,357 10.1%
1920 12,491 −13.0%
1930 12,339 −1.2%
1940 13,548 9.8%
1950 11,009 −18.7%
1960 8,423 −23.5%
1970 8,440 0.2%
1980 8,996 6.6%
1990 9,071 0.8%
2000 9,758 7.6%
2010 8,543 −12.5%
2018 (est.) 8,278 −3.1%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2013

2020 census

Choctaw County racial composition
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 5,559 67.41%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 2,332 28.28%
Native American 15 0.18%
Asian 6 0.07%
Other/Mixed 217 2.63%
Hispanic or Latino 117 1.42%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,246 people, 3,228 households, and 2,010 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,543 people living in the county. 68.1% were White, 30.2% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from some other race and 1.1% of two or more races. 1.4% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Communities

Towns

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Choctaw County School District operates public schools, including Choctaw County High School, Ackerman Elementary, French Camp Elementary, and Weir Elementary.

French Camp Academy, which provides in-house private education in grades 7 through 12, is located in French Camp.

Colleges and universities

Colleges and universities within a 60-mile (97 km) radius of the center of the county include:

Notable people

  • James Blackwood, American Gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern Gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers.
  • Turner Catledge, Managing editor of The New York Times from 1952 to 1964 and the paper's first executive editor.
  • David A. Chandler, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi.
  • James Plemon "J.P." Coleman 52nd Governor of Mississippi and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
  • Thomas Fulton, Former conductor of the New York Metropolitan Opera
  • Dennis Johnson Fullback for Mississippi State University who played for the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills in the NFL.
  • Kenneth Johnson, NFL defensive back for the Green Bay Packers
  • Tony Kimbrough, Former professional football quarterback
  • Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus Jr., 60th Governor of Mississippi and 75th United States Secretary of the Navy.
  • Hoyt Ming, old-time fiddler.
  • Alvin McKinley, NFL defensive tackle who played for the Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints.
  • Roy Oswalt, a major league pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, and his wife Nicole live in Weir.
  • Cheryl Prewitt, Miss America 1980 and Miss Mississippi 1979
  • Kristi M. Fondren, Author "Walking on the Wild Side: Long-Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail"

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Choctaw (Misisipi) para niños

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