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2 History 3 Demographics |
Geography
Yazoo City is located at 32°51'23" North, 90°24'27" West (32.856458, -90.407379)1. It is 40 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi at the junctions of Highways 3, 49E and 49W on the banks of the Yazoo River, near the Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.3 km² (10.9 mi²). 27.9 km² (10.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.19% water.
History
The community now known as Yazoo City was founded in 1824, originally with the name Hannan's Bluff. The town was later renamed Manchester then changed to Yazoo City in 1839. Yazoo city became the Yazoo County seat in 1849.
A Yellow Fever epidemic struck Yazoo City in 1853.
During the American Civil War a makeshift shipyard was established on the Yazoo River at Yazoo City after the Confederate loss of New Orleans. The shipyard was destroyed by Union forces in 1863, then Yazoo City fell back into Confederate hands. Union forces retook the city the following year and burned most of the buildings in the city.
Yellow Fever returned to take more victims in 1878.
In 1904 a fire destroyed much of central Yazoo City.
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 did much damage to Yazoo City.
Yazoo City was the childhood home of blues musician Tommy McClennan, of Joe Fisher, John Joe Humphreys, and of writers Willie Morris and Zig Ziglar. It was also the former home of Jerry Clower, originally of Liberty, Mississippi in Smith County, who became famous while a resident of Yazoo City.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 14,550 people, 4,271 households, and 2,968 families residing in the city. The population density is 521.1/km² (1,349.2/mi²). There are 4,676 housing units at an average density of 167.5/km² (433.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 28.73% White, 69.68% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 7.47% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 4,271 households out of which 37.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.5% are married couples living together, 32.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% are non-families. 27.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.85 and the average family size is 3.49.
In the city the population is spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 112.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 115.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $19,893, and the median income for a family is $22,470. Males have a median income of $26,109 versus $18,650 for females. The per capita income for the city is $9,251. 40.2% of the population and 35.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 52.5% are under the age of 18 and 23.5% are 65 or older.