Mound Bayou

Mound Bayou is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,533 at the 2010 census, down from 2,102 in 2000. It was founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery. The city has a 96.8% African-American majority population in 2020, one of the largest of any community in the U.S. Medgar Evers moved to Mound Bayu to sell insurance for Howard's Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1952. Howard introduced Evers to civil rights activism through the Regional Council of Negro Leadership which organized a boycott against service stations that refused to provide restrooms for blacks. During the trial of Emmett Till's killers, black reporters and witnesses stayed in Howard's home, and Howard gave them an armed escort to the courthouse in Sumner. The current mayor of MoundBayou is Leighton Aldridge, who was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2012. Moundbayou has a total area of 02.9 square miles (3 km²), all of which is land. It is located 9 miles (14 km) to the west and 27 miles (43 km) north of Clarksdale, the largest city in the county. It has a population of 1,541 (1,533 people) as of the 2010 Census. The racial makeup of the city was 98.0% Black, 09% White, 01% Asian, and 0.9% Hispanic or Latino.

History

Mound Bayou traces its origin to freed African Americans from the community of Davis Bend, Mississippi. Davis Bend was started in the 1820s by planter Joseph E. Davis (elder brother of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis) Davis encouraged self-leadership in the slave community, provided a higher standard of nutrition and health and dental care. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Davis Bend became an autonomous free community when Davis sold his property to former slave Benjamin Montgomery, who had run a store and been a prominent leader at Davis Bend. The prolonged agricultural depression, falling cotton prices, flooding by the Mississippi River, and white hostility in the region contributed to the economic failure of Davis bend. By 1900 two-thirds of the owners of land in the bottomlands were black farmers. With the loss of political power due to state disenfranchisement, high debt and continuing agricultural problems, most of them lost their land and by 1920 were landless sharecroppers. As cotton prices fell, the town suffered a severe economic decline in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1942 the Taborian Hospital by the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor, a fraternal organization, opened.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Mound Bayou has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), all land. U.S. Routes 61 and 278 bypass the city to the west and lead south 9 miles (14 km) to Cleveland, the largest city in Bolivar County, and north 27 miles (43km) to Clarksdale. The city is located on the Louisiana-Texas border and is located in the Ouachita National Forest, which is part of the Texas Panhandle. The town has a population of about 2,000 people, most of whom live in the town of Mounds Bayou, a suburb of New Orleans. It is located near the junction of the Louisiana Turnpike and the Louisiana River, which runs north-south through the city and into Louisiana. The U.N. World Heritage Site is in the city, along with the National Park Service's Louisiana State Park. It was founded in 1881. The Louisiana National Guard is based in MoundBayou and has a base of operations in the area, including the Louisiana Army National Guard and Louisiana State Guard Air and Air National Guard bases. It also has a National Guard Air Station, which was established in 1883. It has a post office, which opened in 1884. It closed in 1891. The Moundbayou Post Office opened in 1896. The post office is still in operation today and serves the city.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 1,534 people, 641 households, and 376 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 98.0% Black, 0.9% White,0.1% Asian and 0. 1% from two or more races. The city's population was spread out, with 34.7% under the age of 18, 12.9 percent from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 19.1 percent from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for a household in theCity was $17,972, and the median income. for a family was $19,770. The per capita income for the city is $8,227. About 41.9%. of families and 45.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 58.5%. of those under age 18 and 34.5. of those age 65 or over. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was3.66. The population density was 2,395.1 people per square mile (922.3/km²). There were 723 housing units at an average density of 823.8 per squaremile (317.2/ km²). The city has a population of 2,102 people, and as of the census of 2000, there are 1,533 people living in the City.

Education

Mound Bayou is served by the North Bolivar Consolidated School District. The district operates I.T. Montgomery Elementary School and Northside High School. St. Gabriel Mission School opened as a K-8 school on September 7, 1954. The high school opened in 1958. In 1961 the high school closed. Its non-preschool grades ended in 1994 when it was converted into a preschool. The preschool closed in 2001. Residents have residency for two community colleges: Coahoma Community College and Mississippi Delta Community College. Their main campuses respectively are in unincorporatedCoahoma County and Moorhead in Sunflower County. Mound Bayu has struggled with inadequate educational infrastructure. According to a 1915 report in the Cincinnati Labor Advocate, the school was attended by more than 300 students who were forced to make use of equipment held to be "inadequate for 50 pupils". Teachers at the school were "poorly paid" and the school year limited to only five months. On July 1, 2014, the Northbolivar School District consolidated with the MoundBayou Public School District to form the North bolivar consolidated school district. John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Mound bayou, formerly the secondary school of the Mounds Bayou district, closed in 2018. The school district is part of the North Mississippi School District, which is based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is the largest school district in the state, with more than 2,000 students.

Health care

Delta Health Center was the first rural community health center in the United States. The last hospital in town closed in 1983. A branch of Delta Health Center is located in Mound Bayou. It was founded in 1967. It is the first health center of its kind in the U.S. to be located in a rural community. It opened in 1967 and is located on the banks of the Mississippi River. It has a branch of the Mayo Clinic in New Orleans. It also has a clinic in Lafayette, Louisiana, which opened in 2007. It provides health care for the community. The hospital in Mounds Bayou was built in the 1950s and 1960s. It closed its doors in 1983 and was replaced by a new hospital, which also opened in the 1970s and is still open today. The town has a population of 1,000 people. It had a hospital until 1983, when it was replaced with a new one. It reopened in the 1980s and was the last hospital to close in the town. It now has a health care center, which was opened in 1998. It's located in the same location as the original hospital, but it has a different name, Delta Health Centre, and a different location. The health center is also located in Lafayette and has a satellite clinic in Louisiana, in Lafayette. It started in 1967, and was founded by the Mayo clinic in New York City. It became the first hospital in the country to provide health care to the rural community in the 1960s and 1970s.

Cultural references

Ed Townsend wrote the Marvin Gaye hit song "Let's Get It On" in Mound Bayou. Townsend was born and raised in the Louisiana town. The town is now part of the city of New Orleans. It is also known as the birthplace of the New Orleans Saints and the Louisiana Super Bowl team. It was also the site of the Louisiana Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The city is now home to the Louisiana Museum of Fine Arts, which was established in 1968. The museum is located in the town's historic Moundbayou neighborhood. It also has a museum of African-American history, which dates back to the 19th century. It's also known for its love of Louisiana history and culture, including the Louisiana coast and the Gulf of Mexico. It has also been known to play host to a number of U.S. civil rights events, such as the Louisiana National Guard and the U.N. Women's Auxiliary. The MoundBayou area is also home to a popular music venue, which opened in the 1970s and 1980s, called the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, which is still in operation today. The area also has its own version of the French Riviera, known as "La Mound" or "L'Amour du Mound", which was founded in the early 1900s and is located on the banks of the Mississippi River. The bayou is home to Louisiana's Red River, which runs through the town of Mound, Louisiana.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Mississippi = 86.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 60. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 97. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Mound Bayou = 5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 1,534 individuals with a median age of 29 age the population dropped by -2.90% in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Mississippi population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,749.14 residents per square mile of area (675.62/km²). There are average 2.9 people per household in the 703 households with an average household income of $23,214 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 9.80% of the available work force and has dropped -5.52% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 19.16%. The number of physicians in Mound Bayou per 100,000 population = 98.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Mound Bayou = 53 inches and the annual snowfall = 0 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 109. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 215. 92 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 26, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Mississippi which are owned by the occupant = 47.34%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 32 years with median home cost = $47,120 and home appreciation of -0.08%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $7.67 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,359 per student. There are 14.2 students for each teacher in the school, 284 students for each Librarian and 326 students for each Counselor. 5.31% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 11.76% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.81% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).