Montgomery County, Mississippi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Montgomery County
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U.S. Post Office in Winona.
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Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
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 Mississippi's location within the U.S. |
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Mississippi |
| Founded | 1871 |
| Seat | Winona |
| Largest city | Winona |
| Area | |
| • Total | 408 sq mi (1,060 km2) |
| • Land | 407 sq mi (1,050 km2) |
| • Water | 0.9 sq mi (2 km2) 0.2% |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 9,822 |
| • Density | 24.074/sq mi (9.295/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,822. Its county seat is Winona.
The county is said to be named in honor either of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada, or for Montgomery County, Tennessee, from which an early settler came. In the latter case, it would have been indirectly named after John Montgomery, a settler in Montgomery County, Tennessee, who founded the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, in the same county.
The Big Black River passes through the southern part of the county, flowing southwest to its confluence with the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg.
Contents
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 408 square miles (1,060 km2), of which 407 square miles (1,050 km2) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2) (0.2%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Mississippi by total area.
Major highways
Interstate 55
U.S. Route 51
U.S. Route 82
Adjacent counties
- Grenada County (north)
- Webster County (northeast)
- Choctaw County (east)
- Attala County (south)
- Carroll County (west)
History
This area was occupied in historic times by the Choctaw people. Their ancestors had inhabited the area for thousands of years. Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States forced most of the Native Americans west of the Mississippi River in order to open their lands to settlement by European Americans.
Much of the area of Montgomery County was developed for cotton plantations before and after the Civil War, where most of the labor was supplied by African Americans, enslaved before the war and freed afterward. The county was organized in 1871, during the Reconstruction era. The eastern hilly areas became a center of timber industry.
As was the case across much of rural Mississippi, population in this county declined markedly from 1910 to 1920, and from 1940 to 1970. The peak of population in the county was in 1910. In addition to labor changes because of mechanization of agriculture, the periods of decline are related to the Great Migration of blacks out of the rural and small town South seeking jobs, education and other opportunities in other regions. As a result, Mississippi changed from majority black (56%) in 1910 to majority white (63%) by 1970.
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 13,348 | — | |
| 1890 | 14,459 | 8.3% | |
| 1900 | 16,536 | 14.4% | |
| 1910 | 17,706 | 7.1% | |
| 1920 | 13,805 | −22.0% | |
| 1930 | 15,009 | 8.7% | |
| 1940 | 15,703 | 4.6% | |
| 1950 | 14,470 | −7.9% | |
| 1960 | 13,320 | −7.9% | |
| 1970 | 12,918 | −3.0% | |
| 1980 | 13,366 | 3.5% | |
| 1990 | 12,388 | −7.3% | |
| 2000 | 12,189 | −1.6% | |
| 2010 | 10,925 | −10.4% | |
| 2020 | 9,822 | −10.1% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 9,600 | −12.1% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013 |
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2020 census
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
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| White (non-Hispanic) | 5,094 | 51.86% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 4,364 | 44.43% |
| Native American | 9 | 0.09% |
| Asian | 24 | 0.24% |
| Other/Mixed | 225 | 2.29% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 106 | 1.08% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,822 people, 4,539 households, and 3,064 families residing in the county.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 10,925 people living in the county. 53.0% were White, 45.5% Black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Native American, 0.5% of some other race and 0.5% of two or more races. 0.9% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).
Education
- Public School Districts
- Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District - Consolidation of the Winona district and the Montgomery County School District, effective 2018.
- Private Schools
- Winona Christian School
Communities
Cities
- Winona (county seat)
Towns
Unincorporated communities
Ghost town
Notable residents
- Fannie Lou Hamer - Civil rights activist, with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964; born in Montgomery County in 1917, moved to Sunflower County in 1919.
See also
In Spanish: Condado de Montgomery (Misisipi) para niños
