Editing Arcola, Mississippi

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Arcola, Mississippi
|settlement_type          = [[Town]]
|motto                    = "A Town United Today"
|image_skyline            = ArcolaMSWelcomeSign.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = 
|image_map                = Washington_County_Mississippi_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Arcola_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Arcola, Mississippi
|pushpin_map              = USA
|pushpin_map_caption      = Location in the United States
<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Mississippi]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Mississippi|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Washington County, Mississippi|Washington]]
<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =
<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_28.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=July 24, 2022}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 0.57
|area_land_km2            = 0.57
|area_water_km2           = 0.00
|area_total_sq_mi         = 0.22
|area_land_sq_mi          = 0.22
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00
<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 304
|population_density_km2   = 535.04
|population_density_sq_mi = 1388.13
<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 118
|coordinates              = {{coord|33|16|14|N|90|52|48|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 38722
|area_code                = [[Area code 662|662]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 28-01820
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2405162<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2405162}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Arcola''' is a town in [[Washington County, Mississippi|Washington County]], [[Mississippi]].  The population was 304 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], down from 361 at the 2010 census.

==History==
According to linguist Keith Baca, the name ''Arcola'' may be derived from the [[Choctaw language]] meaning "jar".<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=5}}</ref>

In the 1900s, [[Leroy Percy]] owned the [[Trail Lake Plantation]], a [[Plantations in the American South|Southern plantation]] near Arcola.<ref name="bertram">{{cite journal |last=Wyatt-Brown |first=Bertram |title=Leroy Percy and Sunnyside: Planter Mentality and Italian Peonage in the Mississippi Delta |journal=The Arkansas Historical Quarterly |volume=50 |issue=1 |page=71 |jstor=40022329 | date =Spring 1991   |doi=10.2307/40022329 }}</ref>

In his 2015 travel book entitled ''[[Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads]]'', author [[Paul Theroux]] describes it as a "ghost town."<ref name="theroux117">{{cite book |last=Theroux |first=Paul |date=2015 |title=Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads |location=London, UK |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |page=117 |isbn=9780241146729}}</ref>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|0.2|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=left
|1910= 512
|1920= 453
|1930= 343
|1940= 444
|1950= 413
|1960= 366
|1970= 517
|1980= 588
|1990= 564
|2000= 563
|2010= 361
|2020= 304
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Arcola Racial Composition<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US2801820&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=December 7, 2021|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|[[White (U.S. Census)|White]]
|35
|11.51%
|-
|[[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]]
|264
|86.84%
|-
|[[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
|1
|0.33%
|-
|[[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
|3
|0.99%
|-
|[[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
|1
|0.33%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 304 people, 95 households, and 65 families residing in the town.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 563 people, 183 households, and 122 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|2,515.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 220 housing units at an average density of {{convert|982.9|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 95.03% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 4.80% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]] and 0.18% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.18% of the population.

There were 183 households, out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 36.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08 and the average family size was 3.83.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 36.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $18,409, and the median income for a family was $18,594. Males had a median income of $22,321 versus $13,466 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $6,827. About 43.4% of families and 49.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 63.2% of those under age 18 and 53.2% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
The Town of Arcola is served by the [[Hollandale School District]]. It is also home to the Deer Creek Academy, an independent private school founded in the 1970s.<ref name="theroux119">{{cite book |last=Theroux |first=Paul |date=2015 |title=Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads |location=London, UK |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |pages=119–120 |isbn=9780241146729}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190314023202/http://www.mtcorps.net/ Mississippi Teacher Corps]

{{Washington County, Mississippi}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Towns in Washington County, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Mississippi placenames of Native American origin]]