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Byhalia, Mississippi

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Byhalia, Mississippi
Town
Location of Byhalia, Mississippi
Location of Byhalia, Mississippi
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyMarshall
Area
 • Total2.9 sq mi (7.4 km2)
 • Land2.9 sq mi (7.4 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation
361 ft (110 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total706
 • Density246.8/sq mi (95.3/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
38611
Area code662
FIPS code28-10060
GNIS feature ID0667879

Byhalia is a town in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 706 as of the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.4 km²), all of it land.

History

The town of Byhalia was founded in 1838 when C.W. Rains and Wash Poe purchased land at the intersection of Pigeon Roost Road (now Church Street) and the Collierville-Chulahoma Road (now Highway 309). Pigeon Roost Road was originally the Chickasaw Trail, the route followed by Hernando Desoto in 1541. Pigeon Roost Road had been improved in 1835 to accommodate the removal of the Chickasaw Nation to Oklahoma.

Byhalia was named for a creek spelled Bihalee. The Chickasaw word was Dai-yi-il-ah meaning“White Oak.” The U.S. Postal Service accepted the name Byhalia in 1846.

Byhalia was an ideal location for an early settlement, lying near the crossroad site where the Pigeon Roost Road ran from Memphis to Oxford and Pontotoc. The land in Georgia, Virginia, and North and South Carolina was depleted from continuous cotton planting andlack of crop rotation, making the newly opened territory in North Mississippi an optimal opportunity.

The town of Byhalia grew slowly due to the proximity of Holly Springs and lack of a railroad. However in 1885, completion of the railroad from Memphis joined the existing railroad at Holly Springs and spurred new growth. Most existing downtown buildings date from the period 1884 to 1920. Time, fire, and the Civil War destroyed many of the early homes in Byhalia and a major fire around 1970 destroyed much of the northern section of downtown near Highway 178. New buildings have been built in that area since the fire.

Entering the 1850s, Byhalia seemed well on the way to becoming a key trade center in North Mississippi. Stagecoach service from Memphis to Oxford came through Byhalia in the late 1840s. Mail, light freight, and passengers traveled to and through Byhalia with this fast and reasonably comfortable means of transportation. As more settlers arrived, local commerce flourished and schools were established.

Holly Springs obtained a railroad in 1852, making the stage line obsolete. Since Byhalia was only a stop on the stage route, and the stage line could not effectively compete against the railroad from Memphis to Holly Springs or Oxford, service was suspended in 1856. Also devastating to Byhalia’s growth was the outbreak of the Civil War. More than 250 men from the area immediately surrounding Byhalia served in the Confederate Army.

After the war, Byhalia struggled during the Reconstruction period. A national depression hit in 1873 which lasted for several years. A severe freeze in the winter of 1873 blocked traffic on the Mississippi River and compounded the hardships of the depression.

However, Byhalia appears to have escaped the wrath of the fever, as few tombstones in the immediate area reflect deaths in the summer of 1878. Included is the Leonard Wright Sanatorium in Byhalia. Dr. Wright established the sanatorium around 1949 in the former home of T.D. Burrow. Some local concern surfaced over having a facility in Byhalia that cared for patients with drug or alcohol addiction and minor nervous disorders. However, financially well-to-do patients from Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi frequented the successful sanatorium.

Like many American places, Byhalia has a complicated history of race relations. The Civil War and abortive Reconstruction engendered bitterness among many whites and did little to turn black residents into community stakeholders. The mutual resentment and mistrust came to a head in 1974, when a black 21 year old named Butler Young Jr. was shot and killed by a police officer after escaping from a squad car. Young had been arrested on suspicion of committing a hit-and-run. The shooting and subsequent handling of the case by the sheriff and grand jury resulted in one of the longest boycotts in Mississippi history. The black boycott of white businesses received national media coverage. White business owners complained that they were being punished for grievances that they had no part in. The shooting and boycott hardened racial attitudes on both sides.[1][2]

Byhalia gradually recovered from the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction; by the mid-1880s prosperity was once again evident. The most important economic factor was the railroad coming through Byhalia. Irish laborers and convicts built the railroad. In March 1925, electricity came to Byhalia.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 706 people, 275 households, and 188 families residing in the town. The population density was 246.8 people per square mile (95.3/km²). There were 306 housing units at an average density of 107.0/sq mi (41.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 60.76% White, 35.69% African American, 0.14% Native American, 3.12% from other races, and 0.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.12% of the population.

There were 275 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 22.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 84.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $26,618, and the median income for a family was $35,313. Males had a median income of $34,375 versus $19,219 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,156. About 25.0% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.2% of those under age 18 and 39.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Town of Byhalia is served by the Marshall County School District, one of the lowest-performing districts in Mississippi by state test scores.

People

The original field recording of Sea Lion Woman or See Line Woman was recorded by Herbert Halpert on May 13, 1939 in Byhalia, as sung by Katherine and Christine Shipp.[3]

The novelist and Nobel laureate William Faulkner died of a heart attack at Wright's Sanitorium in Byhalia in 1962 at the age of 64.

The soul singer, Jan Bradley, was born in Byhalia in 1943.

References

  1. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917174-1,00.html
  2. ^ http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/10/2/the-once-and-future-mississippi-plast/
  3. ^ http://odeo.com/episodes/11268763-See-Line-Sea-Lion-Woman
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