Starkville, Mississippi

The modern European-American settlement of the Starkville area was started after the Choctaw inhabitants of Oktibbeha County surrendered their claims to land in the area in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. Most of the Native Americans of the Southeast were forced west of the Mississippi River during the 1830s and Indian Removal.

White settlers were drawn to the Starkville area because of two large springs, which Native Americans had used for thousands of years. A mill on the Big Black River southwest of town produced clapboards, giving the town its original name, Boardtown in 1834. The first court met in 1834 under a large tree. In 1835, when Boardtown was established as the county seat of Oktibbeha County, it was renamed as Starkville in honor of Revolutionary War hero General John Stark.[9] A log courthouse and a one-room jailhouse were constructed in 1835. The jailhouse was unusual in that it had no doors or windows. Prisoners were made to climb a ladder to the roof and then let down through a trap door using a rope.[10]

The first newspaper was founded in 1847. Originally titled The Starkville Whig, it was later renamed The Broad Ax.[10]

In 1865, during reconstruction, the officer in charge of Starkville allowed a black man accused of raping a white girl to be lynched by running him down with hounds.[11]

In 1875 a fire destroyed 52 buildings. The entire business district was destroyed.[10]

A carpetbagger named McLaughlin, who served as the local head of the Freedmen's Bureau, assisted in the establishment of a black Methodist church and established a cooperative store for blacks in his home. This enraged the white citizens so the Klan attacked the store.[12]

On May 5, 1879, two black men who had been accused of burning a barn, Nevlin Porter and Johnson Spencer, were taken from the jail by a mob of men and hung from crossties of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.[13][14]

In 1888, a mob hanged an African-American man, Eli Bryant, for an alleged attack on a white woman.[15]

Several newspapers were founded in this time period, including The Starkville News in 1891. Early banks included The Peoples Bank in 1889 and Security State Bank in 1896.[10]

A yellow fever epidemic in 1898 resulted in a quarantine of Starkville's railroads by the towns of West Point, Columbus, Artesia and Kosciusko. This resulted in a depletion of medical and other supplies which ultimately resulted in intervention by the state.[16]

Before the Civil War, Colonel Montgomery imported cattle from the isle of Jersey, initiating the areas prominence as a dairy center. In 1912, the co-operative creamery was created, and in 1926 the Borden Condensary was established.[10]

In April 1912, Gabe (sometimes reported as Abe) Coleman, an African-American man was accused of attacking a farmer's wife and was shot to death by a mob. Nine men were tried for the murder.[17] In February 1912, another African-American man, Mann Hamilton, was murdered by a mob for allegedly attacking a woman.[18] Following an incident in which whites fired into a Republican Meeting at a church in Chapel Hill, Mississippi, killing a black man, a group of black men planned a march in Starkville. They were met at a bridge near the A & M dairy barn by white men from Starkville and West Point armed with cannon loaded with buckshot and iron.[19]

In 1915, two African-American men, Dit Seals and Peter Bolen,[20] were hanged in a public execution while a crowd of 5,000, including blacks and whites, and children watched and sang There is a Land of Pure Delight. The crowd ate lunch while the execution was being conducted. Vendors were on hand selling popcorn, soda water and sandwiches. The men had been convicted of killing Willie Taylor, an African-American porter on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The story was widely reported as a "gala hanging" sponsored by the merchants of Starkville by various newspapers including the New York World and Chicago Tribune, while the Detroit Times described it as little better than a lynching.[21][22]

In 1922, Starkville was the site of a large rally of the Ku Klux Klan.[23]

In 1926 the Borden Condensery was established, the first condensery in the southern U.S. At the time, Starkville was served by two railroads, the Illinois Central and the Mobile and Ohio.[24]

In 1970, several Black organizations organized a boycott or selective buying campaign. This was met with firebombings, and a crowd of African-Americans assembled near Henderson High School was broken up by gunfire.[25]

On March 21, 2006, Starkville became the first city in Mississippi to adopt a smoking ban for indoor public places, including restaurants and bars. This ordinance went into effect on May 20, 2006.[26]

In February 2018, Starkville denied a local LGBTQ organization a permit to host a pride parade. The organizers initiated legal action,[27] after which the city reversed its decision.[28] The parade was held in March 2018 with almost 3,000 attendees.[29]

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 24,360 people, 10,092 households, and 4,895 families residing in the city.

As of the 2010 United States Census,[34] there were 23,888 people, 9,845 households, and 4,800 families residing in the city. The population density was 936.4 inhabitants per square mile (361.5/km²). There were 11,767 housing units at an average density of 396.7 per square mile (153.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.5% white, 34.06% African American, 0.2% Native American, 3.75% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.64% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.8% of the population.

There were 9,845 households, out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.1% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.92.

The age distribution, strongly influenced by the presence of Mississippi State, was 18.8% under 18, 29.7% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,357, and the median income for a family was $40,557. Males had a median income of $35,782 versus $23,711 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,787. About 19.1% of families and 33.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 17.8% of those age 65 or over.

Starkville has more than 80 places of worship, which serve most religious traditions. Faculty, staff and students at Mississippi State University, including those from other nations, have greatly increased the city's diversity.[35] As of October 2007, approximately half (49.74%) of the residents of Starkville claim a religious affiliation; most are Christian. Of those claiming affiliation, 41.59% self-identify as Protestant, including 25% Baptist and 11% Methodist. Lower percentages identify as Catholic, Mormon, Hindu and Muslim.[36][37]

The Cotton District is a neighborhood located in Starkville that was redeveloped as part of the new urbanism movement.[38] It was founded in 1969[39][40] by Dan Camp, who was the developer, owner and property manager of much of the area.[41] The architecture of the Cotton District has historical elements and scale, with Greek Revival mixed with Classical or Victorian. It is a compact, walkable neighborhood that contains many restaurants and bars, in addition to thousands of unique residential units.

The Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System is headquartered at its main branch in Downtown Starkville. In addition to the local public library, the Mississippi State University Library has the largest collection in Mississippi.[42] The Mississippi State Mitchell Memorial Library also hosts the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana.

In 1927, the city and the Rosenwald Foundation opened a pair of schools, the Rosenwald School and the Oktibbeha County Training School, later known as Henderson High School, for its African-American residents. In 1970, integration caused the merger of these schools with the white schools.[47] Henderson was repurposed as a junior high school, and the Rosenwald School was burned to the ground.[48]

Until 2015, Starkville and much of the surrounding area was served by the Starkville School District (SSD) while Oktibbeha County was served by Oktibbeha County School District (OCSD). The two districts were realigned following integration in 1970 in a way that placed Starkville and majority-white, relatively affluent areas immediately outside of the city limits into SSD while the remaining portions of Oktibbeha County, which are over 90% Black, were placed into OCSD.[49] As a result of this disparity in the racial demographics of the two districts, Oktibbeha County was placed under a Federal desegregation order.[50] Previous attempts to consolidate the two districts during the 1990s and in 2010 had been unsuccessful, but following an act of the Mississippi Legislature the two were consolidated in 2015.[51] Contrary to predictions, the public schools experienced an inflow of students from private schools when the predominantly white Starkville School district merged with the predominantly black Oktibbeha schools.[52]

The schools continue to operate under a Federal desegregation order.[53]

The following schools of the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District are located in Starkville:[54]

• Sudduth Elementary (grades K-1)
• Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary (grades 2–4)
• Overstreet Elementary (grade 5)
• Partnership Middle School (grades 6–7)
• Armstrong Junior High School (grades 8–9)
• Starkville High School (grades 10–12)
• Emerson Preschool
• Millsaps Career & Technology Center

In 2015 it was announced that SOCSD and Mississippi State University would cooperate in establishing a partnership school. The school will be for all grade 6 and 7 students in Oktibbeha County and will be located on the Mississippi State University campus. The school will serve as an instructional site for students and faculty of Mississippi State University's College of Education, and as a one-of-a-kind rural education research center.[55] Construction on the partnership school began in spring 2017.[56] The school opened in August 2020.[57]

Prior to integration, African-American students in Starkville attended the historic Henderson High School. The school was later re-purposed as Starkville School District's junior high school and is now an elementary school.[58]

Private schools in Starkville include:

• Starkville Academy, founded 1969
• Starkville Christian School, founded 1996

Starkville Academy has been described as a segregation academy.[59] Despite fears that the consolidation of the Starkville and Oktibbeha County school districts in 2015 would lead to additional White flight to private schools, district consolidation actually resulted in decreased enrollment at area private schools as more white parents living in Oktibbeha County opted to enroll their children in the consolidated district.[60]

Starkville Library

Mississippi State University is partially in the Starkville city limits, and partially in the Mississippi State census-designated place.[61]

East Mississippi Community College is the designated community college for the county,[62] but does not operate facilities in it.

Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System maintains the Starkville Library.[63]

• The Starkville Daily News
• The Reflector (MSU Student Newspaper)
• The Starkville Dispatch (a localized edition of The Commercial Dispatch)

• WMSV (Mississippi State Radio Station)
• WMAB (Public Radio)
• WMSU
• WQJB
• WMXU
• WJZB
• WSMS
• WSSO (WSSO was Starkville's first radio station, first broadcasting in 1949 at 250W on 1230 AM)

• WCBI
• WTVA
• WLOV-TV

• Town and Gown Magazine