Rolling Fork, Mississippi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rolling Fork, Mississippi
City and county seat
Welcome sign (2022)
Flag
Location within Sharkey County and Mississippi
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Sharkey
Area
• Total	1.41 sq mi (3.66 km2)
• Land	1.41 sq mi (3.66 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	105 ft (32 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,883
• Density	1,333.57/sq mi (515.07/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code	39159
Area code(s)	662
FIPS code	28-63560
GNIS ID	694602

Rolling Fork is a city and county seat of Sharkey County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 1,883.

History

Illinois Central Railroad depot in Rolling Fork

Thomas Y. Chaney settled here in 1828, and was the first European-American settler in the area. The Choctaw, longtime indigenous occupants, had been forced out by new settler pressure and government treaties to gain their land.

Deer Creek flows through the settlement. Chaney called the place "Rolling Fork" because of the swiftness of the water at a fork in the creek there. A post office was established in 1848.

When Sharkey County was established in 1876, during the Reconstruction era, Rolling Fork was made the county seat. A newspaper, The Deer Creek Pilot, was established in 1884.

The Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railway was built through Rolling Fork in 1883. It was later acquired by the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1908, the Bank of Rolling Fork was established.

Since 2002, the town has hosted an annual October festival called the Great Delta Bear Affair, originally commemorating President Theodore Roosevelt’s bear hunt in 1902 in Sharkey County. During each festival, an artist carves a new wooden statue of a bear which is then added to the town's streets.

2023 tornado

A water tower in Rolling Fork, destroyed by the March 24, 2023 tornado

On March 24, 2023, shortly after 8:00 p.m. CDT, Rolling Fork was struck by a destructive and deadly high end EF4 tornado, with winds of 195 mph. The tornado formed from a supercell thunderstorm in northern Issaquena County, whereupon it moved northeast towards and into Rolling Fork. The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for the community shortly before the storm entered the town and dealt catastrophic damage to many structures. The town's post office, city hall, and police department lost parts of or the entirety of their roofs. Multiple businesses—some of metal or brick construction—were completely destroyed, in addition to dozens of houses and mobile homes. One of the town's water towers was blown over, two grain trucks were thrown into each other, power lines were knocked down, and trees were uprooted, some even debarked. The tornado killed 17 people in Rolling Fork and nearby Midnight and Silver City, while injuring 165 more. Following the tornado, Rolling Fork's existing tornado siren was repaired and a new siren was donated and installed on the opposite side of the town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all land.

Climate

Demographics

Welcome carving (2008)

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 1,883 people, 857 households, and 498 families residing in the city.

Education

Public schools

The city of Rolling Fork is served by the South Delta School District. The district has three schools with a total enrollment of approximately 1,300 students.

Private schools

• Sharkey-Issaquena Academy

Notable people

• Robert Colby, songwriter and theater producer
• Tommy Davidson, actor and professional comedian
• Johnny Dyer, blues musician
• Jack Holmes, professional football player
• Larry Smith, professional basketball player
• Willie Mae Ford Smith, gospel singer
• Slick Watts, professional basketball player
• Fielding L. Wright, Governor of Mississippi and 1948 vice-presidential candidate

See also

In Spanish: Rolling Fork para niños