Tallulah, Louisiana

thumb|[[Brushy Bayou in Tallulah]]

thumb|Part of downtown Tallulahthumb|Adams Park in Tallulah

Tallulah ( ) is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,286, On July 20, 1899, a mob of white residents of Tallulah lynched the five Sicilians from Cefalù. Two other Italians who lived in nearby Milliken's Bend fled the area for their safety. The Italians were still citizens (nationals) of Italy, and their government protested strongly to the United States government about each lynching murder. The US government said that the states had to prosecute such killings.

The city developed through the early 20th century and had a growing population, as people came in from rural areas to work in the lumber mills and timber processing. Because it was the center of a major agricultural area, Tallulah became the site of the Louisiana Delta Fair, held annually in October through the first half of the 20th century. It featured exhibits from Madison, East Carroll, and Tensas parishes. Later in the century, the fair was phased out.

Shirley Field, also known as Scott Field, was reportedly the first airport in Louisiana; it was built in 1922 near Tallulah. Dr. B.R. Coad, head of the Agricultural Experiment Laboratory, developed a process and equipment for crop dusting from airplanes, in order to combat the devastating boll weevil infestation of cotton crops. The USDA bought a Huff-Daland plane for this purpose in 1924.

The parish seat also attracted Jewish immigrants. Based on the success of their drugstore, in 1927 merchant brothers Mertie M. and Abe Bloom built the first enclosed shopping mall, Bloom's Arcade, in the United States in Tallulah. It was built by A. Hays Town in the style of European city arcades. The building had a central hall, with stores located on either side, much like the ones today. The hall opened into the street on both ends. This landmark is still in Tallulah, located along what is now U.S. Route 80. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). As of late 2013, it had been restored to its original architectural character and was adapted as an apartment complex.

Later in 1927, the downtown was flooded during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Many downtown stores were flooded by several feet of water. It took time for the town to recover.

World War II to present

After serving in World War II, African-American veterans began to challenge racial discrimination in the South more vigorously. After the Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. Allwright (1944) that the white primary of the Democratic Party was unconstitutional, more blacks began to register in the South. However, in Louisiana, the number of white qualified voters in 1947 still surpassed blacks by a ratio of 100 to one.

The population increased in Tallulah in the decades after the war, reaching a high in 1980 (see tables below). African Americans were the majority population in the city and the parish. Having faced continuing discrimination in efforts to vote, in 1962 a group of eight African-American men successfully sued the parish registrar and state to be able to register and vote. Following passage of the national Civil Rights Act in 1964, in 1965, activists conducted boycotts to end discrimination in employment; many stores would not hire blacks as workers. Seventeen businesses closed in the city rather than hire blacks.

In 1971, black candidates were running for 21 of 27 parish seats in Madison Parish, a sign of the changing times. In other parts of Louisiana, African Americans were also running for local offices.

In 1974, Adell Williams was elected as mayor of Tallulah, the first African American to hold the office. He is believed to have been the first black mayor elected in Louisiana since Reconstruction. After declines from the 1970s, the mill closed in 1983, adding to local economic problems.

After being donated to the Madison Historical Society in 1997, Hermione was moved to its current site on North Mulberry Street in Tallulah. It was adapted to serve both as offices for the society and as the Hermione Museum, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On April 24, 2010, an EF4 tornado touched down just outside Tallulah, causing numerous injuries. The tornado damaged a tanker in a chemical plant, causing a small nitrogen leak. Significant damage to an industrial plant with associated injuries, trapped people, and destroyed homes nearby were reported in Madison Parish near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. The tornado continued across the Mississippi River. It gained strength and struck Yazoo, Holmes, and Choctaw counties in Mississippi, causing 10 fatalities and extensive destruction.

Seviers of Tallulah

Tallulah and Madison Parish have been led and represented politically by numerous members of the prominent Sevier family, who were longtime planters. They are descended from John Sevier, a veteran of the American Revolution, and his wife. Later they were pioneers in what is now Tennessee, and Sevier was elected as the first governor of Tennessee. He was the namesake for the city of Sevierville, Tennessee.

George Washington Sevier Sr. (1858–1925) was elected as a member of the Madison Parish Police Jury. He served as the parish tax assessor from 1891 to 1916. Despite the desire of the townspeople, the facility was converted to house adult prisoners.

Other related facilities in Tallulah, as it is the parish seat, are the Madison Parish Detention Center, with 264 inmates, and the Madison Parish Correctional Center, with 334 inmates. These are also operated by LaSalle Corrections.

Geography

Tallulah is in east-central Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana. It is in the valley of the Mississippi River, southwest of the river itself. It is bordered to the south by the village of Richmond.

U.S. Routes 65 and U.S. Route 80 cross in the center of Tallulah. US 65 leads north to Lake Providence and south to Newellton, while US 80 leads west to Delhi and east to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Interstate 20 crosses the southernmost part of Tallulah, with access from Exit 171 (US 65). I-20 leads east to Vicksburg and west to Monroe.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Tallulah has a total area of , all of it recorded as land.

Demographics

thumb|First Baptist Church across from Brushy Bayou in Tallulah, where outdoor baptisms took place in the bayou from the 1920s through the 1940s

thumb|Abandoned Tallulah High School adjacent to First Baptist Church; the school was consolidated with the new Madison High School in Tallulah.

thumb|Louisiana Delta Community College Tallulah Campus

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Tallulah had a population of 6,286. The median age was 35.7 years. 27.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 76.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 70.8 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 2,343 households in Tallulah, of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 23.3% were married-couple households, 20.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 48.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Race

!Num.

!Perc.

|White (non-Hispanic)

|1,016

|16.16%

|Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

|5,037

|80.13%

|Native American

|12

|0.19%

|Asian

|0.08%

|Pacific Islander

|0.05%

|Other/Mixed

|113

|1.8%

|Hispanic or Latino

|100

|1.59%

Education

Madison Parish School Board operates public schools.
Madison High School grades 9-12
Madison Middle School (grades 6, 7 and 8)
Wright Elementary School (grades 3-5)
Madison STEAM Academy (grades PK-12)
Tallulah Academy Delta Christian School (grades PK-12)
Louisiana Delta Community College operates a Tallulah campus.

Notable people

Clifford Cleveland Brooks, planter in St. Joseph; represented Madison Parish in the Louisiana State Senate from 1924 to 1932
Buddy Caldwell, former Attorney General of Louisiana since 2008; former Madison, East Carroll, and Tensas parish district attorney
James Haynes, NFL player
Jimmy "Cooch Eye" Jones, former National Basketball Association (NBA) player with the Baltimore Bullets
Paul Jorgensen, professional boxer
John Little, professional football player
Robert Nixon, American serial killer
Joe Osborn, musician
James Silas, professional basketball player.
Jefferson B. Snyder, district attorney of Madison Parish from 1904 to 1948.
Madam C. J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867, near Delta, Louisiana. She was a businesswoman who became a self-made millionaire from health care products she developed and sold for African Americans.
Zelma Wyche, political activist, first African-American police chief, and elected mayor of Tallulah, sometimes called "Mr. Civil Rights of Louisiana".
Adrian Fisher, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

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John Littleton, born in Tallulah (1930) and died in France (1998), opera and gospel singer
Edgar H. Lancaster Jr., state representative from 1952 to 1968 and interim judge, 1992-1993
James E. Paxton, district attorney for Madison, East Carroll, and Tensas parishes; native of Madison Parish; resides in St. Joseph in Tensas Parish
Andrew Jackson Sevier, Sheriff of Madison Parish from 1904 to 1941.
Felicia Toney Williams, attorney, became the first woman elected to the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal in 1992. She was sworn in on October 4, 2018 as the north Louisiana appellate court's first female chief judge. ...end commented section -->

References

Representation in other media

Donna Jo Napoli, Alligator Bayou (2009), young adult historical novel about the 1899 lynchings of Italians in Tallulah, published by Wendy Lamb Books.