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Greenville, Mississippi |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007) |
| Greenville, Mississippi | |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Washington |
| Founded | |
| Incorporated | |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Heather McTeer-Hudson |
| Area | |
| - Total | 27.757 sq mi (71.6 km²) |
| - Land | 69.6 sq mi (26.9 km²) |
| - Water | 0.8 sq mi (2.0 km²) |
| Elevation | 131 ft (40 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 41,633 |
| - Density | 598.0/sq mi (1,548.8/km²) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 38700-38799 |
| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-29180 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0670711 |
| Website: www.greenville.ms.us | |
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 41,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2007 census bureau estimates, has since declined to 36,178. It is the county seat of Washington County1.
Greenville was named after American Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene.
Greenville is located on the eastern bank of Lake Ferguson, an oxbow lake left from an old channel of the Mississippi River. A floating casino is located on the lake near the downtown area. Chicago Mill and Lumber Co. operated a lumber mill on the lake .2 mile south of the casino levee parking lot; the mill specialized in making hardwood boxes until it closed. The Winterville Mounds Historic Site, with museum and picnic area, is located just north of the town at 2415 Highway 1 N; the Indian mounds were built by a tribe that predated the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian tribes.
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Greenville is located at (33.398577, -91.048356)2.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.7 square miles (71.6 km²), of which, 26.9 square miles (69.6 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.0 km²) of it (2.82%) is water.
As of the census3 of 2000, there were 41,633 people, 14,784 households, and 10,422 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,548.8 people per square mile (598.0/km²). There were 16,251 housing units at an average density of 604.6/sq mi (233.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 28.92% White, 69.60% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.
There were 14,784 households out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 27.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.34.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,928, and the median income for a family was $30,788. Males had a median income of $29,801 versus $20,707 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,992. About 25.7% of families and 29.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.2% of those under age 18 and 23.6% of those age 65 or over.
Air
Mid Delta Regional Airport, located northeast of downtown Greenville, serves the city and the greater Greenville metropolitan region. It has commercial air service provided by Northwest Airlink to Northwest Airlines hub at Memphis.
Highway
U.S. Highway 82, U.S. Highway 61 and the Great River Road(Mississippi Highway 1) are the main transportation arteries through the Greenville area. U.S. Highway 82 is a major part of the Mississippi Delta's transportation network, as it connects to Interstate 55 and other major four-lane highways. Construction is currently underway on a new four-lane Greenville Bridge to cross the Mississippi River south of Greenville into Lake Village, Arkansas. This $206 million cable-stayed span once completed, will be the longest of its kind in the continental United States. It will replace the Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge as the primary bridge.
Most of Greenville is served by the Greenville Public School District, while a small portion of the city lies in the Western Line School District.
The private schools, Washington School and Greenville Christian School, also serve the city; as well as the parochial schools, St. Joseph High School and Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary (which are part of the Diocese of Jackson).
The Mississippi Miracles, formerly the Mississippi Stingers are an American Basketball Association franchise in Greenville.
Greenville was the birthplace of puppeteer Jim Henson, singer Mary Wilson of The Supremes, author Shelby Foote, pro-baseball player Frank White, archaeologist Theresa Helbach, and pioneering Chinese American journalist Sam Chu Lin. It was also the hometown of World War II soldier and Medal of Honor recipient Robert T. Henry.
Greenville is the home town of the Percy family, U.S. Senator Le Roy Percy, authors William Alexander Percy who took charge of the 1927 Mississippi Flood recovery effort and wrote the definitive Mississippi Delta autobiography Lanterns on the Levee, and Walker Percy who wrote Love in the Ruins.
African-American bear hunter and sportsman Holt Collier is buried in Greenville. Collier was the guide for President Theodore Roosevelt on a bear hunt and was instrumental in the birth of the teddy bear legend.
Jo Carr (1926-2007), born Bettye Jo Crisler in Greenville, became one of the first women Methodist ministers and church administrators in the South Plains of Texas. She was first an English professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker (1906-1993), an African American trombonist born in Newellton, Louisiana, lived in Greenville early in his career.
Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers star, was raised and currently resides in southern Greenville.
The second historic marker designated by the Mississippi Blues Commission on the Mississippi Blues Trail was placed in from of the Second Whispers Restaurant on Nelson Street in Greenville, a stop on the chitlin' circuit in the early days of the blues. The marker commemorates the importance of this site in the history of the development of the blues in Mississippi.45
Nelson Street was a historic strip of blues clubs that drew crowds in the 1940s and 1950s to the flourishing club scene to hear Delta blues, big band jump blues and jazz and where record companies looked for talent.6 It was the equivalent of Beale Street in mid-1900s Memphis.7
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