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Mendenhall, Mississippi

Coordinates: 31°57′40″N 89°52′3″W / 31.96111°N 89.86750°W / 31.96111; -89.86750
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Mendenhall, Mississippi
City
Downtown Mendenhall in April 2014; the Simpson County Courthouse is seen in the background.
Downtown Mendenhall in April 2014; the Simpson County Courthouse is seen in the background.
Flag of Mendenhall, Mississippi
Flag
Location of Mendenhall, Mississippi
Location of Mendenhall, Mississippi
Mendenhall, Mississippi is located in the United States
Mendenhall, Mississippi
Mendenhall, Mississippi
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 31°57′40″N 89°52′3″W / 31.96111°N 89.86750°W / 31.96111; -89.86750
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountySimpson
Government
 • TypeMayor-Council
 • MayorTodd Booth
 • Board of AldermenDonnie Thomas
Robert Mangum
Jana Miller
Sandra Weeks
Tim Gray
Area
[1]
 • Total
5.36 sq mi (13.89 km2)
 • Land5.35 sq mi (13.85 km2)
 • Water0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2)
Elevation
335 ft (102 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
2,199
 • Density411.18/sq mi (158.74/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP code
39114
Area code601
FIPS code28-46600
GNIS feature ID0673476
Websitewww.cityofmendenhall.com

Mendenhall is a city and the county seat of Simpson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,504 at the 2010 census. [2] Mendenhall is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

[edit]

Mendenhall was originally called Edna, to honor the wife of developer Phillip Didlake. After learning that a town with that name already existed in Mississippi, the city had its name changed to Mendenhall to honor Thomas Mendenhall, a citizen and lawyer from Westville, Mississippi (which has become a ghost town).[3]

Mendenhall is the county seat of Simpson County. The county courthouse was built in 1907[4] by architect Andrew J. Byron.[4]

Weathersby, named for one of its founding families, was an unincorporated census-designated community 2.7 miles (4.3 km) southeast of Mendenhall, and 7.4 miles (11.9 km) northeast of Magee. According to Charles Baldwin, Simpson County Tax Collector, Mendenhall annexed Weathersby in the 1980s.[5]

Geography

[edit]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.3 square miles (14 km2), of which 5.3 square miles (14 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) (0.37%) is water.

Demographics

[edit]
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1910606—
19206375.1%
193091944.3%
19401,28239.5%
19501,53920.0%
19601,94626.4%
19702,40223.4%
19802,5335.5%
19902,463−2.8%
20002,5553.7%
20102,504−2.0%
20202,199−12.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
Mendenhall racial composition as of 2020[7]
Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 1,348 61.3%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 743 33.79%
Native American 2 0.09%
Asian 3 0.14%
Other/Mixed 74 3.37%
Hispanic or Latino 29 1.32%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,199 people, 1,024 households, and 641 families residing in the city.

Entertainment attractions

[edit]
Simpson County Courthouse. Photo by Calvin Beale.

Mendenhall had a movie theatre called the Star Theatre,[8] built by Edgar French, Ben Slay and Lonnie Burnham. Located on Main Street, the building boasted a one-screen auditorium with a balcony. It also featured a pool hall and three offices upstairs, one of which housed the city's Chamber of Commerce. The theatre opened for business on November 9, 1938 with the western Born to the West. The price of admission was 11 cents and a box of popcorn was a dime. A man from Prentiss was initially hired to run the theatre, but he was soon "sent packing" and Edgar French told his son, George Lewis French, "You're taking over that picture show".

Lewis French, who had worked in his father's ice plant growing up and was trained as a bookkeeper at Clarks Commercial College in Jackson, had no experience in running a movie theatre. He went to New Orleans to learn how to book movies and run the projection equipment. Aside from time spent serving in Europe as a radio man during World War II, French continued to operate the Star Theatre until he decided to close it in 1971.[9]

During the late 1960s, the Star Theatre had problems with vandalism and growing racial tensions among its young patrons who objected to maintaining segregation. Under Jim Crow customs, black customers were required to sit in the segregated balcony and this only changed after new U.S. legislation was enacted and ended such practices.

In October 1979, a newly remodeled and fully integrated Star Theatre reopened under the ownership of Danny Collins, a young local entrepreneur. Its first movie was the Chuck Norris film A Force of One. The theatre enjoyed revived popularity until competition from video arcades and cable TV forced Collins to close some three years later.

The theatre was repainted when used as a location for the film My Dog Skip. Heavy rains caused the roof to collapse in April 2008. The theatre burned down in 2016.

Notable people

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ^ "History and Heritage". Discover Simpson County. April 26, 1921. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Southern Lagniappe: A Place Called Mendenhall". Southernlagniappe.blogspot.com. March 16, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Weathersby and Choctaw Heritage — Simpson County Heritage Trail, hmdb.org. Accessed May 19, 2024.
  6. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  7. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  8. ^ "Star Theatre in Mendenhall, MS - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  9. ^ An Oral History with George Lewis French, conducted on May 3, 2003. Interviewer: Joe White. Mississippi Oral History Program of The University of Southern Mississippi Simpson County Project.
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