Leakesville is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Chickasawhay River. It is served by the junction of Mississippi routes 57 and 63. The population was 3,775 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 3,743 in 2024. The town was named for Walter Leake, third governor of Mississippi. The area was developed for cotton plantations in the nineteenth century and remains mostly rural.
In 1927, an African-American man named Bernice Raspberry, aged 23, who had been arrested for alleged improper conduct with a white woman, was taken from the jail and lynched.
Geography
Leakesville is in southeastern Greene County, on the west side of the Chickasawhay River, a south-flowing tributary of the Pascagoula River. Via Mississippi Highway 63, it is south to Lucedale and northwest to Sand Hill. Via Highway 57, it is north to State Line and west to McLain.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (0.57%) is water.
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br>2020 Census
! Pop. 2000
! Pop. 2010
!
! % 1990
! % 2000
! % 2010
!
|-
| White alone (NH)
| 837
| 814
| 694
| style='background: #ffffe6; |1,686
| 74.14%
| 79.34%
| 77.28%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |44.66%
|-
| Black or African American alone (NH)
| 275
| 199
| 177
| style='background: #ffffe6; |1,981
| 24.36%
| 19.40%
| 19.71%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |52.48%
|-
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
| 1
| 1
| 0
| style='background: #ffffe6; |7
| 0.09%
| 0.10%
| 0.00%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.19%
|-
| Asian alone (NH)
| 0
| 1
| 1
| style='background: #ffffe6; |0
| 0.00%
| 0.10%
| 0.11%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
| Pacific Islander alone (NH)
| —
| 0
| 0
| style='background: #ffffe6; |0
| —
| 0.00%
| 0.00%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
| Other race alone (NH)
| 0
| 0
| 0
| style='background: #ffffe6; |1
| 0.00%
| 0.00%
| 0.00%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |0.03%
|-
| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)
| —
| 0
| 5
| style='background: #ffffe6; |50
| —
| 0.00%
| 0.56%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |1.32%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (any race)
| 16
| 11
| 21
| style='background: #ffffe6; |50
| 1.42%
| 1.07%
| 2.34%
| style='background: #ffffe6; |1.32%
|-
|Total
|1,129
|1,026
|898
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,775
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 3,775 people, 466 households, and 282 families residing in the town.
The median age was 40.5 years. 7.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 10.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 470.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 580.3 males age 18 and over.
Of the 466 households, 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 36.1% were married-couple households, 17.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 40.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In 2018, a judge approved an agreement for Leakesville to annex multiple areas, including SMCI.
Education
Leakesville is served by the Greene County School District. Schools include Greene County High School, Leakesville Junior High School, and Leakesville Elementary School.
Notable people
- Don Churchwell, NFL player
- Kermit Davis, former head basketball coach at Ole Miss
- Dennis DeBar, member of the Mississippi State Senate
- Reed Green, former head football coach and athletic director for the University of Southern Mississippi
- Bill Hicks, comedian, buried in Magnolia Cemetery
- Jerry Lott, local-turned-regional rockabilly artist performing as "Marty Lott" and later "Gulf Coast Fireball"
- Wilmer Mizell, MLB pitcher and congressman
- Walter Packer, NFL player