Durant, Mississippi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Durant, Mississippi
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Train station in Durant
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Location of Durant, Mississippi
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 Durant, Mississippi
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Holmes |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.26 sq mi (5.86 km2) |
| • Land | 2.24 sq mi (5.80 km2) |
| • Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.06 km2) |
| Elevation | 259 ft (79 m) |
| Population
(2010)
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| • Total | 2,673 |
| • Estimate
(2019)
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2,262 |
| • Density | 1,009.82/sq mi (389.94/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code |
39063
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| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-20500 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0669521 |
Durant is a city near the central eastern border of Holmes County, Mississippi, United States, and Big Black River. The town was founded in 1858 as a station on the Mississippi Central Railroad, later part of the Illinois Central. Durant was named for Louis Durant, a Choctaw chief who had lived on this site before the United States undertook Indian Removal in the 1830s, forcing him and most of the Choctaw to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.
The population of the rural city was 2,673 at the 2010 census, down from 2,932 at the 2000 census.
About 3 miles away is the Castalian Springs Hotel, believed in 2020 to be the only surviving such spa structure in the state. A dozen mineral springs resorts were identified in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Guide to Mississippi (1938), written during the Great Depression. Such springs were believed to have healing properties.
Geography
Durant is located at 33°4′35″N 89°51′23″W / 33.07639°N 89.85639°W (33.076313, -89.856405).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2), of which 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.89%) is water.
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1870 | 375 | — | |
| 1880 | 724 | 93.1% | |
| 1890 | 1,259 | 73.9% | |
| 1900 | 1,766 | 40.3% | |
| 1910 | 1,881 | 6.5% | |
| 1920 | 1,870 | −0.6% | |
| 1930 | 2,480 | 32.6% | |
| 1940 | 2,510 | 1.2% | |
| 1950 | 2,311 | −7.9% | |
| 1960 | 2,617 | 13.2% | |
| 1970 | 2,752 | 5.2% | |
| 1980 | 2,889 | 5.0% | |
| 1990 | 2,838 | −1.8% | |
| 2000 | 2,932 | 3.3% | |
| 2010 | 2,673 | −8.8% | |
| 2019 (est.) | 2,262 | −15.4% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
2020 census
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White | 207 | 9.28% |
| Black or African American | 1,964 | 88.03% |
| Native American | 1 | 0.04% |
| Other/Mixed | 42 | 1.88% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 17 | 0.76% |
As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 2,231 people, 886 households, and 644 families residing in the city.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 2,673 people, 1,171 households, and 978 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,316.4 people per square mile (507.6/km2). There were 1,209 housing units at an average density of 542.8 per square mile (209.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 13.80% White, 85.29% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0% Asian, 0.29% from other races, and 0.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.26% of the population.
There were 1,171 households, out of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.9% were married couples living together, 30.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.32.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.6% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 20 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 49, 15.7% from 50 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. There were 1,230 males and 1,443 females.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,659, and the median income for a family was $25,065. Males had a median income of $26,500 versus $20,200 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,210. About 27.9% of families and 35.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.1% of those under age 18 and 26.7% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The Durant City limits is served by the Holmes County Consolidated School District, which operates Durant Elementary School (K-8) in Durant and Holmes County Central High School near Lexington in the center of the county.
Previously Durant city was served by the Durant Public School District, which had the K-12 Durant School as its only school. Areas outside the city limits were served by the county district. In 2016 Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant signed a bill that required the Durant district to consolidate with the Holmes County district.
As a result of the consolidation, a new school board for Holmes County was assembled by 2018. Effective July 1, 2018 the two districts were combined as the Holmes County Consolidated School District.
In March 2018 the Holmes County school board voted to move high school students in Durant to Holmes County Central, an action opposed by area residents.
Notable people
- John Howell, civil rights activist in Atlanta; son of Durant mayor William Edgar Howell
- Minerva Hamilton Hoyt, born on a nearby plantation; migrated to California where she worked as an activist to preserve its deserts.
- Jimmy W. "Jimi" Jamison, musician, frontman of Survivor
- Alexander Lane, (1860-1911), educator, physician, politician: born in Durant to an enslaved mother, he went as a boy to Illinois and worked with a family; graduated in 1881 from Southern Illinois Normal University as the first male African-American student, worked as a principal for 10 years; attended Rush Medical College and became a physician in Chicago in 1895; in 1906 he was elected to the Illinois state legislature, serving two terms to 1911.
- Tommy McClennan, Delta blues singer and guitarist
- Buford McGee, former National Football League running back
- Hazel Brannon Smith, journalist and publisher
- Absolom M. West, planter and slaveholder, politician, Civil War general, labor organizer and vice presidential candidate; he owned a plantation near Durant prior to the Civil War
See also
In Spanish: Durant (Misisipi) para niños
