Holly Springs, Mississippi

Holly Springs, Mississippi
City
Business District of Holly Springs
Nickname(s): Glamis
Location of Holly Springs, Mississippi
Holly Springs, Mississippi Location in the United States
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Marshall
Government
• Mayor	Kelvin Buck (D)
Area
• Total	12.7 sq mi (33.0 km2)
• Land	12.7 sq mi (32.9 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	600 ft (183 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	7,957
• Density	626.3/sq mi (241.8/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	38634, 38635, 38649
Area code(s)	662
FIPS code	28-33100
GNIS feature ID	0693510

Holly Springs railroad depot.

Montrose, an Antebellum mansion in Hope Springs.

Graceland Too in Holly Springs

Holly Springs is a city in and county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, United States near southern Tennessee.

Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed as cotton plantations and dependent on African slaves. Since the 19th century, the county has had a majority-black population. After the American Civil War, many freedmen continued to work in agriculture but as sharecroppers and tenant farmers. As the county seat, the city is a center of trade and court sessions. The population was 7,957 at the 2000 census. A slight decrease in population was calculated in the 2010 census.

History

Holly Springs was founded by European Americans in 1836, on territory historically occupied by Chickasaw Indians for centuries before Indian Removal carried out as a result of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek of 1832. Most early residents were from Virginia, but also Georgia and the Carolinas. In its founding year of 1836, there were 4,000 European residents. A year later, in 1837, records show that forty residents were lawyers, and six physicians by 1838. By 1837, the town already had "twenty dry good stores, two drugstores, three banks, several hotels, and over ten saloons." It was home to the Hillcrest Cemetery, built on land given to the city by William S. Randolph, an early settler, in 1837. It was also home to the Chalmers Institute, also known as the University of Holly Springs, the oldest university in Mississippi.

The area was developed into extensive cotton Southern plantations, with African slaves working in the fields. The settlement served as a trading center for the neighboring cotton plantations. In 1837, it was made seat of the newly created Marshall County, named for John Marshall, the United States Supreme Court justice. The town developed a variety of merchants and businesses to support the plantations, and its population into the early twentieth century included a community of Jewish merchants, whose ancestors were immigrants from eastern Europe. Even though the cotton industry suffered in the crisis of 1840, it soon recovered.

By 1855 Holly Springs was connected to Grand Junction, Tennessee by the advancing Mississippi Central Railway. In ensuing years, the line was completed to the south of Hill Springs. Toward the end of the century, the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad was constructed to intersect this line in Holly Springs.

During the American Civil War, the town was used by General Ulysses S. Grant as a supply depot and headquarters. Confederate Earl Van Dorn led a raid of the area in December 1862, destroying most of the Union supplies at the Confederate Armory Site.

In 1878, the city suffered a yellow fever epidemic. 1,400 residents became ill and 300 died. The existing Marshall County Courthouse, at the center of Holly Springs' square, was used as a hospital during the epidemic.

Slavery was replaced by share-cropping in the post-bellum era, with many freedmen choosing to work for their former owners. However, it died down after the invasion of boll weevils in the 1920s and 1930s. It was replaced by light industry. After World War II, most industries moved to Memphis, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.7 square miles (33 km²), of which 12.7 square miles (33 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) (0.16%) is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Holly Springs has a humid subtropical climate, in common with the vast majority of the South. On December 23, 2015, a massive EF4 tornado struck the town at around 6:00 pm causing significant damage. 2 people on the city's south side were killed, including a 7-year old boy. The child's death was confirmed by James Richard Anderson, the Marshall County, Mississippi, Coroner. Marshall County suffered damage, some total, to nearly 200 structures during the tornado outbreak, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	2,987		—
1870	2,406		−19.5%
1880	2,370		−1.5%
1890	2,246		−5.2%
1900	2,815		25.3%
1910	2,192		−22.1%
1920	2,113		−3.6%
1930	2,271		7.5%
1940	2,750		21.1%
1950	3,276		19.1%
1960	5,621		71.6%
1970	5,728		1.9%
1980	7,285		27.2%
1990	7,261		−0.3%
2000	7,957		9.6%
2010	7,699		−3.2%
Est. 2014	7,574		−1.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 7,699 people residing in the city. This is a minority-majority city, as 79.2% of the residents were African American, 19.3% White, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.6% from some other race and 0.5% from two or more races. 1.2% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,957 people, 2,407 households, and 1,699 families residing in the city. The population density was 626.3 people per square mile (241.9/km²). There were 2,582 housing units at an average density of 203.2 per square mile (78.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 22.81% White, 76.18% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.06% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.

There were 2,407 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.3% were married couples living together, 31.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 19.1% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,408, and the median income for a family was $25,808. Males had a median income of $29,159 versus $20,777 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,924. About 27.5% of families and 32.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.6% of those under age 18 and 21.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Holly Springs is served by the Holly Springs School District.

Rust College was established in 1866 by the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church to serve freedmen and is a historically black college.

The now defunct Mississippi Industrial College, intended as a vocational training school, was located in Holly Springs, as was the Holly Springs Female Institute.

Notable people

• Seth Adams, University of Mississippi American football quarterback
• Robert Belfour (1940-2015), blues musician
• R. L. Burnside (1926–2005), blues musician
• Edward Hull "Boss" Crump (1874–1954), head of the dominant Democratic Party political machine in Memphis during the first half of the 20th century, was born in Holly Springs
• Cassi Davis (born July 11, 1964) is an American actress.
• Clifton DeBerry (1924–2006), born in Holly Springs, was the first black American nominated for President of the United States by a political party (Socialist Workers Party, 1964, 1980)
• Wall Doxey (August 8, 1892 – March 2, 1962), Mississippi politician, served as Congressman and United States Senator; Wall Doxey State Park was named after him
• Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), wintered in Holly Springs prior to his attack on Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War
• Syl Johnson (born 1936), blues and soul singer
• Verina Morton Jones (1865–1943), African-American physician and the first woman to practice medicine in the state; served as resident physician at Rust College
• Junior Kimbrough (1930–1998), blues musician
• Clinton LeSueur (born 1969), Republican politician; he lost races in 2002 and 2004 for Mississippi's 2nd congressional district to incumbent Democrat Bennie Thompson
• Jeremy LeSueur (born 1980), University of Michigan American football defensive back.
• Paul Maholm (born 1982), pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Mel and Tim (Mel Hardin and Tim McPherson), soul musicians from Holly Springs who recorded at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
• Hiram Rhodes Revels (1822–1901), first African American to serve in the United States Senate, taught Theology at Shaw University (present-day Rust College).
• Shepard Smith (born 1964), Fox News Channel anchor , born in Holly Springs. Attended high school at Marshall Academy, one of the private schools in town.
• James F. Trotter (1802–1866), judge and U.S. Senator who resided in Holly Springs until his death.
• Edward Cary Walthall (1831–1898), Confederate General, lawyer, and U.S. Senator from Mississippi
• Ida B. Wells (1862–1931), civil rights, women's rights, and anti-lynching activist born in Holly Springs..
• Absolom M. West (1818–1894), planter, politician, Civil War general and labor organizer, resided in Holly Springs after the American Civil War until his death.

In popular culture

• William Faulkner was inspired to create his fictionalized Yoknapatawpha County by a diary found at a Holly Springs plantation.
• The 1999 movie Cookie's Fortune was set and filmed in Holly Springs.

Town square in Holly Springs

• Jackson, Mississippi band The Weeks sing about Holly Springs in their 2014 song "Brother in the Night."

External link

• Holly Springs Ledger, 1837-1904 (MUM00232) at the University of Mississippi.