Money, Mississippi
Money is an unincorporated community near Greenwood in Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta.[1] It has fewer than 100 residents, down from 400 in the early 1950s when a cotton mill operated there. Money is located on a railroad line along the Tallahatchie River, a tributary of the Yazoo River in the eastern part of the Mississippi Delta. The community has ZIP code 38945 in the Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area.
Money, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
Leflore County Volunteer Fire Department in Money | |
Money Location in Mississippi Money Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 33°39′04″N 90°12′33″W / 33.65111°N 90.20917°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Leflore |
| Elevation | 138 ft (42 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | <100 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 673728[1] |
Money is the site of events leading to the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till.
History edit
The settlement was named for Hernando Money, a United States Senator from Mississippi.[2] Money was a stop on the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad.[3] This rural area was developed for cotton cultivation. The population in 1900 was 40.[3] The Money post office was established in 1901.[4]
Money gained international attention in 1955 after Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy from Chicago visiting his uncle, was accused of flirting, by means of whistling, with a white woman working alone at Bryant's Grocery in Money. Till was subsequently murdered.[5]
Education edit
It is in the Greenwood-Leflore School District. Residents are zoned to Amanda Elzy High School.[6]
The town was formerly served by the Leflore County School District.[7] Effective July 1, 2019 this district consolidated into the Greenwood-Leflore School District.[8]
Notable people edit
- Richard "Hacksaw" Harney – Delta blues guitarist and pianist[9]
- James Schaffer – religious leader and centenarian.
- Willye White – Olympic athlete.[10]
In popular culture edit
A wooden bridge across the Tallahatchie River at Money was the focus of Bobbie Gentry's 1967 hit song "Ode to Billie Joe." The November 10, 1967 issue of Life magazine featured a photo of Gentry crossing the bridge. The bridge collapsed in June 1972 after being burned by vandals.[11] It has since been replaced.
The novel The Trees by Percival Everett is set in Money.
References edit
- ^ a b "Money". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ Gallant, Frank K. (February 16, 2012). A Place Called Peculiar: Stories about Unusual American Place-Names. Courier Corporation. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-486-48360-3.
- ^ a b Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (PDF). Vol. 2. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 271.
- ^ "Leflore County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Woman Linked to 1955 Emmett Till Murder Tells Historian Her Claims Were False". Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ "School Profile". Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
Amanda Elzy currently services [...] including the towns of [...] Money, [...]
- ^ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Leflore County, MS" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ "School District Consolidation in Mississippi 2017-07-02 at the Wayback Machine." Mississippi Professional Educators. December 2016. Retrieved on July 2, 2017. Page 2 (PDF p. 3/6).
- ^ Komara, Edward; Lee, Peter (July 19, 2004). The Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 409. ISBN 9781135958329 – via Google Books.
- ^ Wiggins, David K. (March 26, 2015). African Americans in Sports. Routledge. p. 401. ISBN 978-1-317-47744-0.
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 239. CN 5585.