Ellisville, Mississippi
Jones County courthouse in Ellisville
Jones County courthouse in Ellisville
Location of Ellisville in Mississippi
Location of Ellisville in Mississippi
Ellisville, Mississippi is located in the United States
Ellisville, Mississippi
Ellisville, Mississippi
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 31°36′4″N 89°12′8″W / 31.60111°N 89.20222°W / 31.60111; -89.20222
List of countriesUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyJones
Government
 • TypeCity
 • MayorLynn Buckhaults
Area
[1]
 • Total10.55 sq mi (27.32 km2)
 • Land10.44 sq mi (27.04 km2)
 • Water0.11 sq mi (0.28 km2)
Elevation
253 ft (77 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total4,652
 • Density445.59/sq mi (172.05/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
39437
Area code(s)601, 769
FIPS code28-22020
GNIS feature ID0669746
Websitecityofellisvillems.com

Ellisville is a town in and the first county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 4,448 at the time of the 2010 census,[2] up from 3,465 at the 2000 census. The Jones County Courthouse is located here, as is much of the county government.

The state legislature authorized a second county seat at Laurel, to the northeast, which developed as the center of lumber and textile mills, with a much larger population. Ellisville is part of the Laurel micropolitan statistical area.

History

The town is named for Powhatan Ellis,[3] a former U.S. senator for Mississippi who identified as a descendant of Pocahontas and her father, Chief Powhatan in Virginia. Ellisville was designated as the county seat, and it became the major commercial and population center of Jones County through the early decades of development in the nineteenth century.

During the Civil War, Ellisville and Jones County were a center of pro-Union resistance. The county had mostly yeomen farmers and cattle herders, who were not slaveholders. Slaves constituted 12% of the county's population in 1860, the lowest proportion of slaves of any county in the state in 1860, as conditions generally did not support cultivation of large cotton plantations. Many local men resented going to war to support slaveholders, and worried about the survival of their families, where women and children worked to keep subsistence farms going. They resented Confederate tax collectors who took the goods and stores their families needed to live.

Confederate deserters and refugee slaves formed a resistance group known as the Knight Company, led by Newton Knight, First Lieutenant Jasper Collins, and Second Lieutenant William Wesley Sumrall. They were known to take refuge in a swamp along the Leaf River. Along with as many as 100 other Southern men, they fought several skirmishes with Confederate tax men, then other Confederate units eventually sent to crush the resistance. In 1864 they took control in Ellisville, raising the United States flag over the courthouse in place of the Confederate flag.

In 1919, Ellisville hosted one of the most gruesome lynchings in history, when a black man, John Hartfield was found to have a white girlfriend. A story was concocted about a rape, and Hartfield was captured by law enforcement. The Jackson Daily News ran headlines that "John Hartfield will be lynched by Ellisville mob at 5:00 this afternoon",[4] and that a crowd of thousands was expected to attend. A crowd of around 10,000 came to watch Hartfield hanged from a tree, then shot repeatedly. When his body was cut down, pieces were cut off for souvenirs and what remained was burned. Commemorative postcards were printed.[5][6]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ellisville lost primacy to nearby Laurel, which became a center of the timber industry and cotton textile mills. Its population in the mid-20th century was nearly six times that of Ellisville. Laurel has attracted other industries and is the center of a micropolitan statistical area comprising all of Jones County and Jasper County. The Jones County Sheriff's Department is based in Laurel, but the county government is still based in Ellisville, at the Jones County Courthouse.

Ellisville reflects the demographics of the county and is majority white. Laurel is majority African American in population, reflecting the migration of agricultural workers to the city for industrial and urban jobs.

Geography

Ellisville is located in central Jones County at 31°36′4″N 89°12′8″W / 31.60111°N 89.20222°W / 31.60111; -89.20222 (31.601068, −89.202123).[7] U.S. Route 11 runs through the center of town, while Interstate 59 runs through the northwest side, with access from Exits 85, 88, and 90. Both highways lead northeast 8 miles (13 km) to Laurel and southwest 22 miles (35 km) to Hattiesburg. Mississippi Highway 29 crosses US-11 near the center of town, leading northwest 12 miles (19 km) to Soso and southeast 20 miles (32 km) to Runnelstown.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Ellisville has a total area of 10.6 square miles (27.5 km2), of which 0.12 square miles (0.3 km2), or 1.01%, are water.[2]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
188037—
18909672,513.5%
19001,89996.4%
19102,44628.8%
19201,681−31.3%
19302,12726.5%
19402,60722.6%
19503,57937.3%
19604,59228.3%
19704,6431.1%
19804,6520.2%
19903,634−21.9%
20003,465−4.7%
20104,44828.4%
20204,6524.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]
Ellisville racial composition as of 2020[9]
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 2,502 53.78%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 1,722 37.02%
Native American 12 0.26%
Asian 24 0.52%
Pacific Islander 2 0.04%
Other/Mixed 92 1.98%
Hispanic or Latino 298 6.41%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,652 people, 1,264 households, and 810 families residing in the city.

Education

Jones County Junior College

Ellisville is served by the Jones County School District and is also home to Jones County Junior College.

Notable people

All Star Buddy Myer

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Ellisville city, Mississippi". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 117.
  4. ↑ "John Hartsfield will be lynched at 5 o'clock this afternoon". Jackson, Mississippi Daily News. June 26, 1919.
  5. ↑ McWhirter, Cameron (2011). Red Summer The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Henry Holt and Company. pp. 68–71. ISBN 9780805089066.
  6. ↑ Barry, Dan (September 19, 2015). "Horror Drove Her From South. 100 Years Later, She Returned". New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  7. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Leslie C. DeVall, Jr". KPLC. August 28, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Henry McCall Statistics". baseballreference.com. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Jones County Blues". The Mississippi Blues Trail. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  13. ↑ Curet, Taylor (August 29, 2018). "Ellisville native Scottie Phillips to start at Ole Miss". WDAM. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Jeremiah Price". 247sports.com. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Donnie Scoggin". Mississippi House of Representatives. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Former Mississippi state Rep. Bobby Shows dies at 80". Clarion-Ledger. January 23, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Football Coach-UTM Athletics". utmsports.com. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  18. ↑ Barretta, Scott. "L.C. Ulmer (1928-2016)". Mississippi Folklife and Folk Artist Directory. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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