Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,922. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named in honor of the first president of the United States, George Washington. It is located next to the Arkansas border. The Greenville, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Washington County. It is located in the Mississippi Delta.

History

Located in the Mississippi Delta, Washington County was first developed for cotton cultivation in the antebellum years. Most plantations were developed to have access to the rivers, which were the major transportation routes. Cotton was based on slave labor.

In an 1860 Census, Washington County had an enslaved population of 92.3%, the second-highest anywhere in the country, only behind Issaquena County, Mississippi (92.5%). In the period from 1877 to 1950, Washington County had 12 documented lynchings of African Americans. Most occurred around the turn of the 20th century, as part of white imposition of Jim Crow conditions and suppression of black voting.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (4.8%) is water.

Adjacent counties

  • Bolivar County (north)
  • Sunflower County (northeast)
  • Humphreys County (east)
  • Sharkey County (southeast)
  • Issaquena County (south)
  • Chicot County, Arkansas (west)
  • Desha County, Arkansas (northwest)

National protected areas

  • Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge
  • Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge (part)
  • Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Washington County, Mississippi – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>

!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>

!Pop 1980

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|-

|White alone (NH)

|31,381

|28,174

|21,243

|13,654

|style='background: #ffffe6; |11,180

|43.38%

|41.47%

|33.73%

|26.70%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |24.89%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|39,789

|39,035

|40,495

|36,348

|style='background: #ffffe6; |31,919

|55.00%

|57.46%

|64.30%

|71.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |71.05%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|21

|53

|54

|56

|style='background: #ffffe6; |48

|0.03%

|0.08%

|0.09%

|0.11%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.11%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|368

|244

|327

|291

|style='background: #ffffe6; |302

|0.51%

|0.36%

|0.52%

|0.57%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.67%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|x

|x

|9

|6

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5

|x

|x

|0.01%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|66

|13

|16

|13

|style='background: #ffffe6; |69

|0.09%

|0.02%

|0.03%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|x

|x

|302

|240

|style='background: #ffffe6; |815

|x

|x

|0.48%

|0.47%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.81%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|719

|416

|531

|529

|style='background: #ffffe6; |584

|0.99%

|0.61%

|0.84%

|1.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.30%

|-

|Total

|72,344

|67,935

|62,977

|51,137

|style='background: #ffffe6; |44,922

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

|}

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 44,922. The median age was 40.6 years. 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 82.1 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 25.1% White, 71.3% Black or African American, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% Asian, &lt;0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.7% from some other race, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.3% of the population.

There were 17,954 households in the county, of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 29.7% were married-couple households, 20.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 42.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. of 2000, there were 62,977 people, 22,158 households, and 15,931 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 24,381 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 69.57% Black or African American, 33.97% White, 0.09% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 0.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the census

1990 census

As of the census of 1990, there were 67,935 people living in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 57.46% (39,035) Black or African American, 41.47% (28,174) White, 0.08% (53) Native American, 0.36% (244) Asian, and 0.02% (13) from other races. 0.61% (416) were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Transportation

Major highways

  • 21px U.S. Highway 82
  • 21px U.S. Highway 61
  • 21px U.S. Highway 278
  • 21px Mississippi Highway 1
  • 21px Mississippi Highway 12

Airport

Mid Delta Regional Airport, owned by the City of Greenville, is located in an unincorporated area in the county.

Education

  • Public School Districts
  • Greenville Public School District
  • Leland School District
  • Hollandale School District
  • Western Line School District
  • Private Schools
  • Deer Creek School (Arcola)
  • Greenville Christian School
  • Saint Joseph Catholic High School (Greenville)
  • Washington School (Greenville)

Pillow Academy in unincorporated Leflore County, near Greenwood, enrolls some students from Washington County. It originally was a segregation academy.

Communities

Cities

  • Greenville (third and current county seat)
  • Hollandale
  • Leland

Towns

  • Arcola
  • Metcalfe

Census-designated places

  • Elizabeth
  • Glen Allan
  • Stoneville
  • Winterville

Unincorporated communities

  • Avon
  • Burdett
  • Chatham
  • Darlove
  • Erwin
  • Foote
  • McCutcheon
  • Murphy
  • Percy
  • Refuge
  • Tralake
  • Tribbett
  • Wayside
  • Wilmot

Ghost towns

  • New Mexico (first county seat)
  • Port Anderson
  • Princeton (second county seat)

Politics

Washington County has a very high African American population and is a Democratic stronghold, having been so for decades. The last Republican to carry the county was George H. W. Bush, who won it by 7 votes in 1988.

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See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Mississippi

Footnotes

Further reading

  • Russell S. Hall, Princella W. Nowell, and Stacy Childress, Washington County, Mississippi. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
  • Bern Keating, A History of Washington County, Mississippi. Greenville, MS: Greenville Junior Auxiliary, 1976.
  • John L. McCoy, Factors Associated with Level-of-Living in Washington County, Mississippi. US Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin no. 1501. Washington, DC: US Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 1974.
  • William Bert Thompson, A History of the Greenville, Mississippi, Public Schools under the Administration of E.E. Bass, 1884-1932. MA thesis. University, MS: University of Mississippi, 1968.