Shubuta, Mississippi

History

Shubuta was incorporated in 1865. It had become a trading post community in the 1830s. In that decade under the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw people ceded the land to the United States, pursuant to the Indian Removal Act. They were forced to move west of the Mississippi River and their traditional homeland was made available to European Americans for settlement. Shubuta started growing more rapidly in the 1850s after being connected to other communities by the railroad.

At one time the largest town between Meridian, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama, Shubuta attracted people from 40 miles (64 km) around to shop at its many mercantile businesses. The first record of the word "Shubuta" appears on Bernard Roman's Map of 1772, a copy of which appears in Riley's History of Mississippi. Riley wrote the name as "Chobuta", which means "smoky water" in the Choctaw language.

The first newspaper in the area was the Mississippi Messenger, established by Judge Charles A. Stovall in 1879. Six houses within Shubuta are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These are listed in National Register of Historic Places listings in Clarke County, Mississippi, which provides a map link locating them all.

Shubuta residents made history in Albany, New York, where their residential neighborhood was designated an historic district. During the Great Migration in the 1930s a number of Shubuta residents followed Reverend Louis W. Parson to Albany, in the search for industrial jobs and better opportunities. They created a community to the west of the city, building houses along Rapp Road within what was one land parcel purchased by Parson. Now known as the Rapp Road Community Historic District, the area is listed on the NRHP.

Geography

Shubuta is located near the southern border of Clarke County at 31°51′39″N 88°42′2″W (31.860939, -88.700690), on the west side of the Chickasawhay River. U.S. Route 45 bypasses the town on the west, leading north 13 miles (21 km) to Quitman, the county seat, and south 14 miles (23 km) to Waynesboro. Mississippi Highway 145, which leads through the center of Shubuta, follows the old alignment of US 45.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 651 people, 244 households, and 165 families residing in the town. The population density was 271.0 people per square mile (104.7/km²). There were 270 housing units at an average density of 112.4 per square mile (43.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 25.50% White, 73.89% African American, 0.15% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.38% of the population.

There were 244 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were married couples living together, 23.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the town, the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $18,438, and the median income for a family was $21,719. Males had a median income of $24,688 versus $17,813 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,094. About 38.5% of families and 44.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 59.4% of those under age 18 and 35.9% of those age 65 or over.

Industry

Shubuta was the second home of Hanson Scale Company, a bathroom scale manufacturer, later owned by the Sunbeam Corporation.

Shubuta is the home of Mississippi Laminators. Producing laminated beams, the company has been in business in Shubuta since the early 1970s.

Education

Shubuta is served by the Quitman School District.