Editing Yalobusha County, Mississippi (section)

==History==
''Yalobusha'' is a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] word, likely from the Muskogee language family, meaning "[[tadpole]] place."<ref>{{cite book|last=Baca|first=Keith A.|title=Native American Place Names in Mississippi|url=https://epdf.pub/native-american-place-names-in-mississippi.html|year=2007|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-483-6|page=130}}</ref> This region was long a traditional homeland of bands of both the [[Choctaw]] and [[Chickasaw]] Indian tribes, who occupied lands in present-day Mississippi and Alabama.

In 1816, General [[Andrew Jackson]] ordered the surveying of the line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples. The line as surveyed cut almost a perfect diagonal across the area of present-day Yalobusha County. European Americans increasingly encroached on the Native American territories of the Southeast and, after being elected as president in 1828, Jackson gained passage of the [[Indian Removal Act]] of 1830, to force tribes out of lands east of the Mississippi River.

In 1830, the Choctaw ceded their Mississippi lands to the United States in the [[Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek]]. Two years later, the Chickasaw signed the [[Treaty of Pontotoc]], ceding their lands to the United States. Both tribes were [[Indian Removal|removed]] west to new lands assigned in [[Indian Territory]] (present-day [[Oklahoma]]).

In 1833, the [[Mississippi Legislature]] authorized the formation of 17 counties, including Yalobusha, on what had been [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]] land.

Yalobusha County was officially organized and its first officials elected on February 21, 1834. The first Board of Police (Supervisors) held its first meeting at [[Hendersonville, Mississippi|Hendersonville]], then the largest town in the county. It had been established in 1798 by John Henderson, a [[Presbyterian]] missionary, who was one of the first white (or European-American men) to settle in the area. Other early settlements by whites included Elliot, [[Chocchuma, Mississippi|Chocchuma]], Tuscohoma, Pittsburg, Talahoma, Plummerville, Preston, Pharsalia, Sardinia, and Washington.

At its first meeting the Board of Police solicited donations of land for a [[county seat]]. At its second meeting, the Board selected the site, naming it [[Coffeeville, Mississippi|Coffeeville]] in honor of General [[John Coffee]], who had represented the United States in treaty negotiations with the Choctaw and Chickasaw. The next meeting of the Board was held in the new settlement, and in 1837 the first county courthouse was built.

The same year, G. B. Ragsdale, an early settler in the northeastern part of the county, established a stagecoach stand near what is now [[Water Valley, Mississippi|Water Valley]]. In 1848 the town of [[Oakland, Mississippi]], was chartered on the site.

Yalobusha County had a population of 12,248 when its first [[census]] was taken in 1840. In 1844, a post office was opened at Ragsdale's Stand. Three years later, the post office and stagecoach stand were moved to land owned by William Carr, and the name was changed to Water Valley.

[[James K. Polk]] of Tennessee, who served as president of the United States from 1845 to 1849, was a prominent early landowner in Yalobusha County. In 1835 he purchased a cotton plantation south of Coffeeville. After his death in 1849, Polk's widow managed the plantation successfully for a number of years before selling it.

By 1850, the county's population had grown to 17,258. In 1852, [[Calhoun County, Mississippi|Calhoun County]] was formed, and a tier of [[township (United States)|townships]] on the eastern border of Yalobusha County were taken to form part of the new county.

The [[Illinois Central Railroad]] built a branch line from [[Jackson, Tennessee]] to [[Grenada, Mississippi|Grenada]], passing through Water Valley and Coffeeville, in the late 1850s. ICRR officials wanted to set up maintenance shops in Coffeeville, but could not obtain the property they wanted. Residents of the fledgling town of Water Valley offered to donate the needed land to the railroad. After the shops were located there, Water Valley attracted workers and related businesses, and quickly became the largest town in the county. It was officially chartered in 1858, with a population of 300.

Water Valley became a thriving community with two hotels and several churches. The first church there was the [[Presbyterian Church]], built in 1843. Two years later, the First [[Methodist Church]] was organized, followed in 1860 by the First [[Baptist Church]] of Water Valley. In 1860, the county's population was 16,952. {{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

With the completion of the railroad from [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] to the [[Ohio River]], Water Valley was an important railroad community on the Mississippi Central railroad at the outset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

On December 5, 1862, the minor [[Battle of Coffeeville]] was fought. A Confederate force ambushed a larger Federal cavalry column. The Union forces fell back to Water Valley. Fewer than fifty men in total died in the skirmish.

After the war, the ICRR railroad shops were built at Water Valley, bringing a large influx of new workers and residents to the town.<!-- ??Thise seems to contradict earlier material on ICRR shops, suggesting they were located here in the 1840s or well before the war. --> In 1867, Yalobusha County's first manufacturing industry, Yacona Mills, was the world's largest manufacturer of twine.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The [[Reconstruction Era of the United States|Reconstruction]] legislature in Mississippi created a number of new counties. [[Grenada County, Mississippi|Grenada County]] was formed in 1870 and included nearly two tiers of [[township (United States)|townships]] which had formerly been the southern part of Yalobusha County.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In March 1873, Yalobusha County was divided into two judicial districts, and Water Valley was named the county seat of the second judicial district. Because the town overlapped the Yalobusha-Lafayette County line, the legislature gave Yalobusha a two-mile strip of land from the southern portion of [[Lafayette County, Mississippi|Lafayette County]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The town of [[Tillatoba, Mississippi|Tillatoba]] was chartered in 1873. In 1880, Yalobusha County's population was 15,649.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 1889, Coffeeville's second courthouse, which had been built in 1840 at a cost of $25,000, burned down. A new courthouse, also costing $25,000, was built in 1890. That year, the county population was 16,629.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Famed railroad engineer [[Casey Jones|J. L. "Casey" Jones]] moved from [[Jackson, Tennessee]] to Water Valley in 1893. In 1896, four years before his death in a notable train wreck, Jones moved back to Jackson.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

A new courthouse was built in Water Valley in 1896. Some 16 years later it was destroyed by an accidental fire. The second judicial district offices were moved to the Water Valley City Hall, but within a month, it too burned. The courthouse was reconstructed after the fire. A third floor was added but it was never completed.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Yalobusha County's [[population]] peaked in 1910, with the census showing a population of 21,519. By 1920, the population had fallen to 18,738. Effects of the boll weevil and changes in mechanized agriculture reduced the number of workers needed. In this period, many African Americans moved north to industrial cities in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]], to leave the violence and Jim Crow rules of the segregated South. The population continued to decline steadily for the next 50 years.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Between 1926 and 1928, Yalobusha County suffered two major economic setbacks. In April 1926, Yacona Twine Mill, which had employed approximately 450 people, was destroyed by fire. The following year, the ICRR began moving its railroad shops from Water Valley to [[Paducah, Kentucky]]. By the end of 1928, these shops, which had at one time employed over 800 people, were completely closed.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 1931, Water Valley held its first Watermelon Carnival. It was a great success, bringing 20,000 visitors to the city. The Watermelon Carnival became an annual event bringing national recognition to Water Valley, which in 1932 proclaimed itself the "Watermelon Capital of the World". After the US entered [[World War II]] in December 1941, the Carnival was suspended the following year. It was not resumed until 1980. Since then it is again held annually, the first Saturday in August.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

After WWII, little industry remained in Yalobusha County. By 1950 the county's population had declined to 15,191. In the early 1950s the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] began work on two flood control reservoirs in and around the county, to the distress of county farmers who lost thousands of acres of fertile bottom land. [[Enid Lake]] and [[Grenada Lake]], both completed in 1955 as part of the flood control project, are now popular recreation spots for locals and for visitors.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Yalobusha County's population was 12,502 in 1960, and in 1970, it was 11,915. The following census showed the county gained some 1,200 new residents, giving it a 1980 population of 13,139.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Since the 1960s, the county has attracted new industries. At present, its two largest employers have a combined total of more than 2,000 employees, and several other industries provide hundreds of additional jobs for county residents.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}