Vicksburg, Mississippi

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Coordinates: 32°20′10″N 90°52′31″W / 32.33611, -90.87528
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Aerial view of Vicksburg Harbor
Location of Vicksburg in Warren County
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Warren
Founded
Incorporated	1826
Government
- Mayor	Laurence Leyens
Area
- Total	35.3 sq mi (98.32 km²)
- Land	32.9 sq mi (85.2 km²)
- Water	2.4 sq mi (6.2 km²)
Elevation	240 ft (032 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	26,407
- Density	803.1/sq mi (310.1/km²)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	39180-39183
Area code(s)	601
FIPS code	28-76720
GNIS feature ID	0679216
Website: www.vicksburg.org

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is located 234 miles (377 km) north by west of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and 40 miles (65 km) due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920, 17,931; and in 1940, 24,460. The population was 26,407 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.

Vicksburg is the principal city of the Vicksburg Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Warren County.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 Education
5 Trivia
6 Cultural references
7 Notable residents
8 Sources and References
9 External links

[edit] Geography

Vicksburg is located at 32°20′10″N, 90°52′31″W (32.335986, -90.875356)^[1]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.3 square miles (98.32 km²), of which, 32.9 square miles (85.2 km²) of it is land and 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) of it (6.78%) is water. It is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 26,407 people, 10,364 households, and 6,612 families residing in the city. The population density was 803.1 people per square mile (310.1/km²). There were 11,654 housing units at an average density of 354.4/sq mi (136.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 37.80% White, 60.43% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population. There were 10,364 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.9% were married couples living together, 24.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,466, and the median income for a family was $34,380. Males had a median income of $29,420 versus $20,728 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,174. About 19.3% of families and 23.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.8% of those under age 18 and 16.5% of those age 65 or over.

Mississippi River at Vicksburg

The city is also home to three large Corps of Engineers installations, The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the Mississippi Valley Division headquarters, and the Vicksburg District headquarters.

[edit] History

The area now known as Vicksburg was first settled by the French who built Fort-Saint-Pierre (1719) on the high bluffs overlooking the Yazoo River near there (at present-day Redwood, Mississippi), but the settlement was wiped out by Native Americans 10 years later. A military outpost established on the site by the Spaniards in 1790 was known as Nogales, but the name was later changed to Walnut Hills ("Nogales" being the Spanish word for walnut trees) when the Americans took possession in March, 1798. A sprawling community then began to develop, which was officially incorporated in 1825 as "Vicksburg" (named after Newitt Vick, a Methodist minister and conscientious objector to the American Revolution).

During the American Civil War, Vicksburg was the site of the Siege of Vicksburg, a significant event in which the Union gained control of the entire Mississippi River. The 47-day Siege of Vicksburg was required to starve the city into submission, for its location atop a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River proved impregnable to assault by federal troops. The capture of Vicksburg and the simultaneous defeat of Lee at Gettysburg marked the turning point in the American Civil War.

Because of the city's location on the Mississippi River, its reputation in the nineteenth century often rested on the river's prodigious steamboat traffic. Between 1881 and 1894, the Anchor Line, a prominent steamboat company operating on the Mississippi River from 1859 to 1898, operated a steamboat called the City of Vicksburg, named for the city. In 1876 a Mississippi River flood cut off the large meander flowing past Vicksburg leaving access to the new channel limited. The United States Army Corps of Engineers diverted the Yazoo River in 1903 into the old, shallowing channel to rejuvenate the waterfront. Railroad access to the west was by transfer steamers and ferry barges until a combination railroad and highway bridge was built in 1929. This is the only Mississippi River rail crossing between Baton Rouge and Memphis and the only highway crossing between Natchez and Greenville. Interstate 20 bridged the River in 1969 and freight rail traffic still crosses by the old bridge. North-South transportation links are by the Mississippi River and U.S. Highway 61.

The historic Mississippi River Commission Building in Vicksburg, constructed in 1894

On 12 March 1894, the popular soft drink Coca-Cola was bottled for the first time in Vicksburg by Joseph Biedenharn, a local confectioner. Today, surviving nineteenth-century Biedenharn soda bottles are prized by collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia. The location of Coke's first bottling has been preserved by the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation as the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum and features a reproduction of the first equipment used to bottle Coca-Cola as well as a large collection of Coca-Cola memorbilia. The museum is open daily.

Willie Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915. Muddy Waters was born a few miles north in Rolling Fork, Mississippi in 1915.

Vicksburg served as the primary refugee gathering point and temporary housing during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which submerged an area of the Mississippi Delta nearly the size of New England. That Flood was the impetus towards establishment of the United States Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station as the primary hydraulics laboratory to develop protection from the River. That establishment, now known as the Engineer Research and Development Center, works in the areas of military engineering, information technology, environmental engineering, hydraulic engineering, and geotechnical engineering.

[edit] Education

The City of Vicksburg is served by the Vicksburg-Warren School District, Vicksburg Catholic School (St. Francis Xavier Elementary and St. Aloysius High School), as well as Porter's Chapel Academy.

[edit] Trivia

Vicksburg is home to the world's longest running melodrama, Gold in the Hills.

Confederate Army General John C. Pemberton, surmising that he could get better terms by surrendering the town on July 4th, did so, and on that date he had his troops stack their arms and allow Ulysses S. Grant and Union troops to enter the city. Pemberton was thereafter scorned for his conduct of the siege. The city of Vicksburg did not celebrate the Fourth of July again until during World War II.

"Down around Vicksburg" is where the singer meets the "Mississippi Queen" in the rock and roll standard of the same name by the band Mountain.

Some of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? was filmed here.

Vicksburg is home to the McRaven House, said to be one of the most haunted houses in America.

[edit] Cultural references

Vicksburg is mentioned in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley.

The city is mentioned multiple times in the series of books surrounding the Logan family including Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976) and Let The Circle Be Unbroken (1981), by Mildred Taylor.

[edit] Notable residents

William Wirt Adams, Confederate Army officer and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives ^[3]
Tommy Bishop, country guitarist; godfather of "rockabilly" guitar.
Ellis Burks, former MLB outfielder.
Charles Burnett, filmaker.
Odia Coates, country singer.
Rod Coleman, defensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons.
Eva Davis, preserved and saved the Old Vicksburg Courthouse, made it into a museum
Willie Dixon, blues bassist, singer, songwriter, and producer.
John "Kayo" Dottley, college All-American and Professional Football Player
Brian Alan Formby, creator of the original "Okra mascot" costume for Delta State University. Major organizer of Walt Disney World's Annual International Food and Wine Festival in Orlando, FL. *^5*^6.
Louis Edward Green, linebacker for the Denver Broncos.
Milt Hinton, jazz bassist
George McConnell, former guitarist for Widespread Panic, Kudzu Kings, and Beanland
Michael Myers, defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Beah Richards, African-American film and television actress
Frederick Henry Sollys, Owner and operator of Sollys' Hot Tamales for 52 years and creator of its unique original recipe now used at The Tamale Place.
Taylor Tankersley, Florida Marlins relief pitcher.
Candace Palmertree Werginz, a Vicksburg native who now lives in Atlanta. The publisher of online magazines CurvyGirl.com and Bombshells.com. [^4]
Delmon Young, outfielder for the Minnesota Twins.
Dmitri Young, first baseman for the Washington Nationals
Joseph Holt, longest serving Judge Advocate General of the Army.
Jefferson Davis, Mexican war hero, U.S. Congressman, Senator, Secretary of War, and President of the Confederate States of America resided at his Mississippi river plantation "Brierfield" south of Vicksburg in Warren County.

[edit] Sources and References

^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who.

[[4. ^Publication: Mississippi Business Journal, Publication Date: 15-JAN-07, Delivery: Immediate Online Access, Author: Lofton, Lynn

Media:http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6204542/Excitement-building-for-Business-Woman.html]]

[[5. ^ VANITY FAIR, EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival <<www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-epcotguide092707,0,1299379.acrobat ->>]]
[[6. ^<<http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/158.asp?item=1827>>]]
This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.
Cox, James L. The Mississippi Almanac. (2001). ISBN 0-9643545-2-7