Starkville, Mississippi

History

The Starkville area has been inhabited for over 2100 years. Artifacts in the form of clay pot fragments and artwork dating from that time period have been found east of Starkville at the Herman Mound and Village site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The village site can be accessed from the Indian Mound Campground. The earthwork mounds were made by early Native Americans of moundbuilder cultures as part of their religious and political cosmology.

Shortly before the American Revolutionary War period, the area was inhabited by the Choccuma (or Chakchiuma) tribe. They were annihilated about that time by a rare alliance between the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples.

The modern European-American settlement of the Starkville area was started after the Choctaw inhabitants of Oktibbeha County surrendered their claims to land in the area in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. Most of the Native Americans of the Southeast were forced west of the Mississippi River during the 1830s and Indian Removal.

White settlers were drawn to the Starkville area because of two large springs, which Native Americans had used for thousands of years. A mill on the Big Black River southwest of town produced clapboards, giving the town its original name, Boardtown. In 1835, when Boardtown was established as the county seat of Oktibbeha County, it was renamed as Starkville in honor of Revolutionary War hero General John Stark.

20th century to present

On March 21, 2006, Starkville became the first city in Mississippi to adopt a smoking ban for indoor public places, including restaurants and bars. This ordinance went into effect on May 20, 2006.

Geography

Starkville is located at 33°27′45″N 88°49′12″W (33.462471, -88.819990).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.8 square miles (66.9 km²), of which 25.7 square miles (66.5 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) (0.58%) is water.

US Highway 82 and Mississippi Highways 12 and 25 are major roads through Starkville. The nearest airport with scheduled service is Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTR). George M. Bryan Field (KSTF) serves as Starkville's general aviation airport. There are multiple privately owned airstrips in the area.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 23,888 people, 9,845 households, and 4,800 families residing in the city. The population density was 936.4 people per square mile (328.7/km²). There were 11,767 housing units at an average density of 396.7/sq mi (153.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.5% Non-Hispanic White, 34.06% African American, 0.2% Native American, 3.75% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.64% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.8% of the population.

There were 9,845 households out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.1% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city, the population was spread out with 18.8% under the age of 18, 29.7% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,357, and the median income for a family was $40,557. Males had a median income of $35,782 versus $23,711 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,787. About 19.1% of families and 33.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 17.8% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

Starkville has more than 80 places of worship, which serve most religious traditions. Faculty, staff and students at Mississippi State University, including those from other nations, have greatly increased the city's diversity. As of October 2007, approximately half (49.74%) of the residents of Starkville claim a religious affiliation;; most are Christian. Of those claiming affiliation, 41.59% self-identify as Protestant, including 25% Baptist and 11% Methodist. Lower percentages identify as Catholic, Mormon, Hindu and Muslim.

The Cotton District

The Cotton District is a community located in Starkville. It was the first new urbanism development in the world. It was founded in 2000 by Dan Camp, who is the developer, owner and property manager of much of the area. The architecture of the Cotton District has historical elements and scale, with Greek Revival mixed with Classical or Victorian. It is a compact, walkable neighborhood that contains many restaurants and bars, in addition to thousands of unique residential units.

Government

Starkville is located in Mississippi's 3rd congressional district and its 3rd state Supreme Court district.

Public schools

The City of Starkville is served by the Starkville School District. Starkville High School athletics are designated as Class 6A, Region 2. The Yellowjacket football team is one of the most successful in the state of Mississippi, with 10 title game appearances and 6 state championships since 1981 (most recent being in 2015).

Private schools

In popular culture

American pilot Charles Lindbergh, the first to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, made a successful landing on the outskirts of Starkville in 1927 during his notable Guggenheim Tour. He stayed overnight at a boarding house in the Maben community. Lindbergh later wrote about that landing in his autobiographical account of his barnstorming days, titled WE.

Starkville is one of several places in the United States that claims to have created Tee Ball. Tee Ball was popularized in Starkville in 1961 by W.W. Littlejohn and Dr. Clyde Muse, members of the Starkville Rotarians. Dr. Muse was also an educator, having been Principal of Starkville High School for many years. He was a renowned baseball and basketball coach (one of his early teams won a State Championship.)

The town itself is called by fans the Baseball Capital of the South, having been the birthplace of National Baseball Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell and Mississippi State University, whose Diamond Dogs have made nine trips to the NCAA Baseball College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Johnny Cash was arrested for public drunkenness (though he described it as being picked up for picking flowers) in Starkville and held overnight at the city jail on May 11, 1965. This inspired his song Starkville City Jail:

They're bound to get you,

Cause they got a curfew,

The song appears on the album At San Quentin.

From November 2 to November 4, 2007, the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival was held in Starkville. At the festival, Cash was offered a symbolic posthumous pardon by the city. They honored Cash's life and music, and the festival is expected to become an annual event. The festival was started by Robbie Ward. He urged the town to make it an annual event. He said: "Johnny Cash was arrested in seven places, but he only wrote a song about one of those places."

A song entitled Starkville appears on the Indigo Girls' 2002 album Become You.

Starkville is shown on a map of Mississippi in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2007).

The Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville is a National Top 40 Rodeo Facility and is considered to be one of the top tourist attractions in North Mississippi.

Starkville has The Magnolia Independent Film Festival, held annually in February. It is the oldest festival in the state for independent films.

The annual Cotton District Arts Festival in Starkville, held in the Cotton District on the third weekend of April, is considered to be one of the top arts festivals in the state, drawing a record crowd of nearly 25,000 in 2008. On hand for the festivities were Y'all Magazine, Southern Living, Peavey Electronics, and over 100 of the state's top artisans and 25 live bands.

Starkville is home of Bulldog Bash, Mississippi's largest open-air free concert.

Located on the MSU campus, the Cullis and Gladys Wade Clock Museum has an extensive collection of mostly American clocks and watches dating to the early 18th century. The collection of over 400 clocks is the only one of its size in the region.

Starkville is mentioned in the NBC drama series, The West Wing, which aired from 1999-2006. Toby is discussing an appropriations bill, noting that it includes 1.7 million dollars for manure handling in Starkville, Mississippi.