Southaven, Mississippi

History

Southaven began as a village when Memphis homebuilder Kemmons Wilson (founder of Holiday Inn) wished to develop a few residential subdivisions featuring small starter homes just across the Mississippi border from Whitehaven, Tennessee, an unincorporated suburb of Memphis. Whitehaven was eventually annexed by Memphis. Officially incorporated in 1980, Southaven is one of the fastest growing cities in the southeastern United States. In just 20 years, Southaven doubled its land area, while its population tripled. Like the rest of DeSoto County, Southaven's growth has been attributed mostly to the white flight from Memphis, though the percentage of blacks has risen sharply since the 2000 census resulting from black flight.

The construction of Interstate 55 through Southaven in the 1970s helped to promote growth and make for easier access to the city from Memphis, Jackson, St. Louis, and Chicago. Interstate 69, which will eventually run from Canada to Mexico, was cosigned with I-55 in Southaven in 2007.

In 1988, Baptist Hospital-DeSoto opened in Southaven as a two-story hospital. In 2001, Baptist DeSoto started an expansion project, nearly doubling the size of the hospital. In 2002, Baptist Hospital-DeSoto added an Outpatient Diagnostic Center and a Women's Center. In November 2006, Baptist DeSoto opened an eleven-story hospital tower that added 140 beds to the facility, allowing it to offer all private rooms. In addition, the new hospital tower added a new and expanded Emergency Department, more operating suites and space for future additions. It is the first high-rise building constructed in DeSoto County.

The exponential growth of Memphis International Airport (2 miles north of the city limits) in the 1980s led to increased air traffic over Southaven. The city continues to see large amounts of air traffic from Memphis International Airport, as flight paths to both north/south runways lead directly over the city.

October 2005 saw the opening of Southaven's first large-scale shopping mall, Southaven Towne Center, which is located just south of Goodman Road between I-55/I-69 and Airways Boulevard. The mall is open-air with various stores and restaurants, including J.C. Penney, Dillard's, Gordmans, Sportsman's Warehouse, hhgregg, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Numerous buildings in Southaven were damaged on February 5, 2008, when an EF-2 tornado touched down during the so-called Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. Memphis television station WREG broadcast live images of the tornado as it moved through the city and into Memphis. No fatalities were reported in Southaven.

By February 2011, Southaven had become the third largest city in Mississippi.

In the late 2000s, an outlet mall was proposed for Southaven. Tanger Outlets Southaven began construction in January 2015 and opened in November 2015. The mall, located near I-55/I-69 and Church Road, includes 70 outlet stores and outparcels of restaurants.

Southaven was the boyhood home of noted novelist John Grisham, who also practiced law there for almost a decade, and of singer and songwriter Cory Branan.

Geography

The center of the city is approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of downtown Memphis and 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Memphis International Airport.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Southaven has a total area of 41.5 square miles (107.6 km²), of which 41.2 square miles (106.8 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²), or 0.68%, is water.

Climate

Southaven experiences a humid subtropical climate, with average annual precipitation of nearly 55 inches (1,400 mm), which is well distributed throughout the year. April is the wettest month of the year, and August the driest. The average daily temperature is 40 °F (4 °C) in January and 82 °F (28 °C) in July.

Households and families

As of the census of 2010, there were 48,982 people and 13,125 families residing in the city. The population density was 1499.9 people per square mile (580/km²). There were 19,101 housing units at an average density of 339.3 per square mile (131.0/km²).

There were 19,904 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.16.

Racial makeup

The racial makeup of the city was 71.0% White, 22.2% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.0% from other races, 1.7% from two or more races, and Hispanic or Latino, 5.0% of the population.

Age

In the city, the population was spread out with 30.8% under the age of 20, 13.5% from 20 to 30, 15.8 from 30 to 40, 13.8% from 40 to 50, 11.1% from 50 to 60, and 14.9% who were 60 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years.

Income

The median income for a household in the city was $46,691, and the median income for a family was $52,333. Males had a median income of $36,671 versus $26,557 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,759. About 5.3% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Attractions

Sports

Southaven hosts the Southern Professional Hockey League team, the Mississippi RiverKings, who play at the Lander's Center. The team relocated from Memphis prior to the 2000-2001 season and has been the main tenant of the Landers Center since.

Southaven's Snowden Grove Baseball Park hosts the annual Dizzy Dean Baseball World Series, where 5- to 19-year-old divisions are represented by teams from across the country.

Beginning in fall 2017, the Memphis Grizzlies will operate their NBA Development League team at the Landers Center in Southaven.

Education

Colleges and universities:

Public secondary schools: The City of Southaven is served by the DeSoto County School District.

Public elementary schools:

Private schools:

Media