This area was occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. When the French explored here, they encountered the historic Natchez people. As part of their colony known as La Louisiane, the French established a settlement at what became Natchez, Mississippi. Other Native American tribes also lived in what is now known as Mississippi.
The current city of Greenville is the third in the State to bear the name. The first, (known as Old Greenville) located to the south near Natchez, was the Jefferson County seat from 1803-1825[4] but became defunct soon after the American Revolution, as European-American settlement was then still concentrated in the eastern states. This ghost town was in no way related to the second Greenville except that they eventually shared a name.
Many migrants came to the area of the future, second Greenville, located approximately 150 miles north of the first Greenville, from the eastern and Upper South states, seeking land for developing cotton plantations, and this area became a trading center for the region's plantations. In 1830 the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the government to make treaties to extinguish Native American land claims in exchange for lands west of the Mississippi River. They forced most of the Southeastern tribes to Indian Territory during the following decade.
After it became necessary to move the county seat of Washington County in 1844 due to loss of land to the newly formed Issaquena County, the not-yet established second Greenville was designated to be the future county seat and finally became so upon its founding in 1847.[5] American William W. Blanton filed for land from the United States government and was granted section four, township eighteen, range eight west; this plot now constitutes most of current downtown Greenville (the third). It was named by its founders for General Nathanael Greene, friend of President George Washington, for whom the county was named. This Greenville was thriving hamlet in the antebellum years, as cotton plantations developed in the area generated high profits for major planters. They used indentured Whites, captured Indians and African slaves as farmhands on the plantations.
Washington County's two previous county seats, New Mexico and Princeton, were located along the Mississippi River and had been eroded by the waters, to the point that they were destroyed.[6] As county seat, Greenville was the trading, business, and cultural center for the large cottonplantations that surrounded it. Most plantations were located directly on the Mississippi and other major navigable tributaries. The interior bottomlands were not developed until after the Civil War.
Greenville, seen from the Mississippi River
The destruction of Greenville and the Civil War
The town (the second Greenville, eventually also referred to as Old Greenville[7] by its residents who may not have been familiar with Mississippi's first Greenville, which by then had disappeared) was destroyed during the Union Army's actions related to the siege of Vicksburg. Troops from a Union gunboat landed at Greenville. In retaliation for being fired upon, they burned every building. The inhabitants took refuge in plantation homes of the area. When the war ended, veterans of Mississippi regiments returned to find Greenville in a state of ruin.
The former residents soon decided to build again. They chose a new site (the third, current Greenville) three miles away, at the highest point on the Mississippi River between the towns of Vicksburg and Memphis. Much of the land belonged to the Roach and Blanton families; the major part of the area selected was within property owned by Mrs. Harriet Blanton Theobald. She welcomed the idea of a new Greenville, and donated land for schools, churches and public buildings. She was called the "Mother of Greenville". Major Richard O’Hea, who had planned the wartime defense fortifications at Vicksburg, was hired to lay out the new town.
Greenville recovered prosperity, still based on cotton, despite the decline in world markets for this commodity. In the early 20th century, its elite families had considerable political influence in the state, and US Senator Leroy Percy was from here. Several residences and other buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was a center of Delta culture in the early 20th century. This city adapted the former site to serve as industrial fill.
Nelson Street
Nelson Street Mississippi Blues Trail Marker
African Americans in the Delta developed rich varieties of innovative music. Nelson Street is a historic strip of blues clubs that drew crowds in the 1940s and 1950s to the flourishing club scene to hear Delta blues, big band, jump blues and jazz. Record companies came to Greenville to recruit talent.[8] It was similar to Beale Street in mid-20th century Memphis.[9]
In the early 21st century, the Mississippi Blues Commission was established to commemorate this music in the state's history and culture. It has identified sites throughout the Delta as part of the Mississippi Blues Trail.
Southern Whispers Restaurant on Nelson Street in Greenville was the second site identified on this trail; this was a stop on the Chitlin' Circuit in the early days of the blues. The historic marker in front of the restaurant commemorates its importance in the history of the blues in Mississippi.[10][11]
21st century
In 2020 the city ordered churches to shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and issued citations and fines to those attending a drive-in church gathering. The U.S. Justice Department intervened on behalf of the church.[12]
Geography
Walnut Street, 1994
Greenville is located on the eastern bank of Lake Ferguson, an oxbow lake left from an old channel of the Mississippi River.[citation needed]
One floating casino is located on the lake near the downtown area known as the Trop Casino Greenville, with a second just west of the city near the Greenville Bridge known as Harlow's Casino Resort. Chicago Mill and Lumber Co. operated a lumber mill on the lake two-tenths of a mile south of the casino levee parking lot; the mill specialized in making hardwood boxes until it closed.[citation needed]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.7 square miles (72 km2), of which 26.9 square miles (70 km2) is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) (2.82%) is water.
As of the census[18] of 2000, there were 41,633 people, 18,784 households, and 14,422 families living in the city. The population density was 1,548.8 inhabitants per square mile (598.0/km2). There were 16,251 housing units at an average density of 604.6 per square mile (233.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 28.92% White, 69.60% Black, 0.07% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.
There were 14,784 households, out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 27.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. Of all households, 25.8% were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.34.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.4% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,928, and the median income for a family was $30,788. Males had a median income of $29,801 versus $20,707 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,992. About 25.7% of families and 29.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.2% of those under age 18 and 23.6% of those age 65 or over.
U.S. Highway 61, U.S. Highway 82 and the Great River Road (Mississippi Highway 1) are the main transportation arteries through the Greenville area. U.S. Highway 82 is a major part of the Mississippi Delta's transportation network, as it connects to Interstate 55 and other major four-lane highways. In addition, the U.S. Highway 82 bypass is being constructed to provide a transportation route at the southern end of the Delta, connecting at the new Mississippi River Bridge and ending near Leland. The four-lane Greenville Bridge, a $206 million cable-stayed span crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas, opened in 2010, replacing the two-lane Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge, which opened in 1940.
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Circa 2008 there were ten grocery stores operated by ethnic Chinese people. There were 42 such stores in the city in 1951, but since then there had been a flight of ethnic Chinese from the Delta.[38]
The Winterville Mounds Historic Site, with more than twelve earthwork mounds constructed by people of the Plaquemine Mississippian culture, is a survival north of the county seat of the deep indigenous history along the Mississippi River. This culture was particularly prominent from 13th to the 15th centuries, long before European exploration. Earthwork mounds were built by peoples in this area from the 9th century. The people in this region were influenced by the larger Mississippian culture, which built similar ceremonial sites throughout the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries. The historic Natchez people are considered the only contemporary surviving group of the Mississippian culture at the time of European exploration.
The Winterville Mounds has been designated as a state park and National Historic Landmark. A museum on the grounds displays artifacts recovered in professional excavations and adds to the interpretation of this complex, and the park has walking trails. It is located about 3 miles north of the city. It can be reached at 2415 Highway 1 N.
The Percy family, including U.S. Senator Le Roy Percy and his son, author William Alexander Percy, lived here. Walker Percy, another writer from the Percy family, and his brothers were raised by William Alexander Percy here after being orphaned.
^"Station: Greenville ASOS, MS". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
^Barth, Jack (1991). Roadside Hollywood: The Movie Lover's State-By-State Guide to Film Locations, Celebrity Hangouts, Celluloid Tourist Attractions, and More. Contemporary Books. Page 170. ISBN9780809243266.
(*) O'Bannon High is in an unincorporated area adjacent to Greenville and is not in the city limits. (**) The main campus is not in Greenville, but Greenville is within its service area Winterville site is north of, and not inside, the Greenville city limits
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