Brookhaven, Mississippi
Brookhaven, Mississippi | |
---|---|
City | |
Brookhaven City Hall | |
Nickname(s): A Home Seekers' Paradise | |
Motto: Come Stay Awhile | |
Location of Brookhaven, Mississippi | |
Brookhaven, Mississippi Location in the United States | |
Coordinates: 31°34′55″N 90°26′35″W / 31.58194°N 90.44306°WCoordinates: 31°34′55″N 90°26′35″W / 31.58194°N 90.44306°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Mississippi |
County | Lincoln |
Government | |
• Mayor | Joe Cox |
Area | |
• Total | 7.3 sq mi (19.0 km2) |
• Land | 7.3 sq mi (19.0 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
Elevation | 489 ft (149 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 12,512 |
• Density | 1,345.6/sq mi (519.5/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP codes | 39601-39603 |
Area code(s) | 601 |
FIPS code | 28-08820 |
GNIS feature ID | 0667590 |
Website | http://brookhavenms.com/wp |
Brookhaven (pronounced locally: broo-KAY-vən) is a small city in Lincoln County, Mississippi, southwest from the state capital of Jackson. The population was 12,520 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County.[1] It was named after the Town of Brookhaven, New York, by founder Samuel Jayne in 1818.
History
Brookhaven is located in what was formerly Choctaw Indian territory. The city was founded in 1818 by Samuel Jayne from New York, who named it after the Town of Brookhaven on Long Island.[2]
The railroad came though Brookhaven in 1858.[2] It connected Brookhaven with New Orleans to the south and Memphis to the north.
During the Civil War, Brookhaven was briefly occupied at noon on 29 April 1863 by a raiding party of Union [cavalry] under the command of Colonel Benjamin Grierson. The Union force burned public buildings and destroyed the railroad.[3] This was rebuilt after the war.
In 1936 Brookhaven was chosen to be the site of the Stahl-Urban garment plant.[4]
In 1955, Lamar Smith, a U.S. civil rights figure, black farmer, World War I veteran and an organizer of black voter registration, was shot to death mid-day on the lawn of the county courthouse in Brookhaven.[5]
Geography
According to the United States Bureau of the Census, (in the U.S. Department of Commerce), Brookhaven has a total area of 7.3 square miles (19 km2), of which 7.3 square miles (19 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.27%) is water.
The size of the City of Brookhaven was expanded in late 2007 to almost triple its previous area, through a vote of annexation, to bring in suburban developments surrounding the older town and equalize taxing and services provided to the new metropolitan area.[6][7]
Demographics
Historical population | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1860 | 996 | — | |
1870 | 1,614 | 62.0% | |
1880 | 1,615 | 0.1% | |
1890 | 2,142 | 32.6% | |
1900 | 2,678 | 25.0% | |
1910 | 5,293 | 97.6% | |
1920 | 4,706 | −11.1% | |
1930 | 5,288 | 12.4% | |
1940 | 6,232 | 17.9% | |
1950 | 7,801 | 25.2% | |
1960 | 9,885 | 26.7% | |
1970 | 10,700 | 8.2% | |
1980 | 10,800 | 0.9% | |
1990 | 10,243 | −5.2% | |
2000 | 9,861 | −3.7% | |
2010 | 12,513 | 26.9% | |
Est. 2015 | 12,414 | [8] | −0.8% |
As of the census[10] of the United States Census of 2000, (before the additional territories annexed into the City in 2007, which would be reflected in more up-to-date census figures from the next United States Census of 2010), there were 9,861 people, 3,810 households, and 2,480 families residing in the City of Brookhaven. The population density was 1,345.6 people per square mile (519.4/km²). There were 4,240 housing units at an average density of 578.6 per square mile (223.3/km²). The racial makeup of the City was fairly evenly split with 47.55% White, 50.91% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.79% of the population.
There were 3,810 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the City, the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 82.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males.
The median income for a household in the City was $24,632, and the median income for a family was $30,950. Males had a median income of $28,079 versus $20,047 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,695. About 23.3% of families and 26.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.8% of those under age 18 and 25.0% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The City of Brookhaven is served by the Brookhaven School District of public schools. There is also a private school, Brookhaven Academy,[11] that serves the city and surrounding area. The statewide magnet high school, the Mississippi School of the Arts is also located in the city. Four Lincoln County public schools are also located in Brookhaven's rural areas: Bogue Chitto Attendance Center, Enterprise Attendance Center, Loyd Star Attendance Center and West Lincoln Attendance Center. The former institution of higher learning Whitworth Female College, founded in 1858, was located in Brookhaven. The all-girls college closed its doors in 1984.[12]
Media
Brookhaven is a part of the Jackson, Mississippi Television Market, including news stations WLBT, WJTV, WAPT, and WDBD. The city is served by a daily newspaper called The Daily Leader.
Infrastructure
Rail transportation
Amtrak's (National Rail Passenger Corporation) famous (song ballad written and sung by folk singer Arlo Guthrie from 1973) "City of New Orleans" serves Brookhaven, going north and south on the old Illinois Central and the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio railroad lines.
Notable people
- Lance Alworth, (b. 1940), member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame, played for the San Diego Chargers of the old American Football League and the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys. Attended Brookhaven High School.[13]
- Jim C. Barnett, physician and surgeon from Brookhaven; member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1992 to 2008.[14]
- Jim Brewer, Maxwell Street blues musician, was born in Brookhaven.
- Bernie Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom, lived both in and near Brookhaven before being sent to prison for white-collar fraud.
- Charles Henri Ford, American poet, novelist, filmmaker, photographer, and collage artist.
- Ruth Ford, actress
- Earsell Mackbee, football player
- Robert W. Pittman, founder MTV and former CEO and COO of AOL), was raised in Brookhaven.[15]
- Lulah Ragsdale (1862-1953), poet, novelist, actor
- Richard Scruggs - lawyer, was born and spent his childhood in Brookhaven
- J. Kim Sessums, artist. Designed the African-American Monument in the Vicksburg National Military Park for the 1863 Siege and Battle of Vicksburg in the American Civil War.[16]
- Guy Turnbow, American football player[17]
- Addie L. Wyatt, leader in the United States Labor movement, civil rights activist, and Time magazine as Person of the Year in 1975.[18]
Architecture
Temple B'nai Shalom, a temple/synagogue of Judaism is a rare example of Moorish Revival architecture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
References
- ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- 1 2 Brookhaven, Mississippi.
- ↑ Grabau, Warren (2000). Ninety-Eight Days: A Geographer's View of the Vicksburg Campaign. Knoxville: University of Tennessee. p. 116. ISBN 1-57233-068-6.
- ↑ Stahl-Urban Photograph Collection
- ↑ Payne, Charles M. (1996). I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle. University of California Press. p. 39. ISBN 9780520207066.
- ↑ BrookhavenMS.org Archived October 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Brookhaven, MS (BRH) — Great American Stations
- ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ Brookhaven Academy
- ↑ Patti Carr Black; Marion Barnwell (2002). Touring Literary Mississippi. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-57806-367-3.
- ↑ "Lance "Bambi" Alworth". College Football Hall of Fame. National Football Foundation. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ↑ "Longtime Legislator Barnett Dies at 86, July 29, 2013". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
- ↑ Munk, Nina (2004). Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner. New York: Harper Collins. pp. 89–92. ISBN 0-06-054035-4.
- ↑ "State Resolution #15 of 2004 Session" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ↑ "GUY TURNBOW". profootballarchives.com. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ↑ "A Dozen Who Made a Difference – Alison Cheek: Bold Unionist". Time. 1976-01-05. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brookhaven, Mississippi. |
- City of Brookhaven official site
- History of Brookhaven's Jewish community, Institute of Southern Jewish Life