Walthall County, Mississippi

Walthall County, Mississippi
Walthall County courthouse in Tylertown, Mississippi
Location in the state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Founded	1910
Seat	Tylertown
Largest Town	Tylertown
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	404.44 sq mi (1,047 km²) 403.82 sq mi (1,046 km²) 0.62 sq mi (2 km²), 0.15%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	15,443 36/sq mi (14/km²)

Walthall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2010, the population was 15,443. Its county seat is Tylertown. The county is named after Civil War general and Mississippi Senator Edward C. Walthall.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 404.44 square miles (1,047.5 km²), of which 403.82 square miles (1,045.9 km²) (or 99.85%) is land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km²) (or 0.15%) is water. It is the smallest county in Mississippi in land area.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 98
• Mississippi Highway 27
• Mississippi Highway 44
• Mississippi Highway 48

Adjacent counties

• Lawrence County (north)
• Marion County (east)
• Washington Parish, Louisiana (south)
• Pike County (west)
• Lincoln County (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,156 people, 5,571 households, and 4,111 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile (14/km²). There were 6,418 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 54.61% White, 44.09% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. 1.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1920	13,455		—
1930	13,871		3.1%
1940	17,534		26.4%
1950	15,563		−11.2%
1960	13,512		−13.2%
1970	12,500		−7.5%
1980	13,761		10.1%
1990	14,352		4.3%
2000	15,156		5.6%
2010	15,443		1.9%
MS Counties 1900-1990 GeoHive - 2000 & 2010 statistics

There were 5,571 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.00% were married couples living together, 16.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.20% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $22,945, and the median income for a family was $29,169. Males had a median income of $26,745 versus $16,909 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,563. About 22.40% of families and 27.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.70% of those under age 18 and 17.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Walthall County was created in 1910 by taking land from Marion County, and from Pike County. If you are looking for your ancestors, you may need to look in the old records of those counties as well. The Mississippi Genealogy and History Network website (http://www.walthall.msghn.org) has marriage and census records available and links to Marion County early census and tax records as well.

Towns

• Tylertown

See also

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

Unincorporated places

• Darbun
• Mesa
• Sartinville
• Salem
• Dexter
• Improve