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Rodney, Mississippi
Rodney, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
 Former First Presbyterian Church | |
| Nickname(s): "Petite Gulf", "Little Gulf"[1] | |
  Rodney, Mississippi  Rodney, Mississippi | |
| Coordinates: 31°51′40.6″N 91°11′59.4″W / 31.861278°N 91.199833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Jefferson |
| Founded | 1828 |
| Elevation | 82 ft (25 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 676809[1] |
Rodney is a ghost town in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States.[1] Most of the buildings are gone and the remaining structures are in various states of disrepair. The town regularly floods and buildings have extensive flood damage. The Rodney History And Preservation Society is restoring Rodney Presbyterian Church, whose damaged façade from the American Civil War includes a replica cannonball embedded above its balcony windows. The Rodney Center Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
The town is approximately 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Natchez and is currently about two miles (3.2 km) inland from the Mississippi River. Wetlands between the town and the river include a lake that roughly follows the river's former course. Atop the loess bluffs behind Rodney are its cemetery and Confederate earthworks from the Civil War.
In the early 19th century, Rodney was a cultural center of the region. In 1817, it was three votes away from becoming the capital of Mississippi.[3] Rush Nutt, a resident of Rodney, developed a hybrid strain of cotton called Petit Gulf cotton and innovations to the cotton gin. In 1828, Rodney was incorporated and became the primary port for the surrounding area, with a population in the thousands. By 1860, the town was home to businesses, newspapers, and Oakland College. During the Civil War, Confederate States Army cavalry captured the crew of a Union Army ship who were attending a service in Rodney Presbyterian Church, resulting in the shelling of the town. After the war, the Mississippi River changed course, the railroad bypassed the area, and nearly all of buildings burned down. The population declined, and the town was disincorporated in 1930.[4] By 2010, only "a hand full of people" were living in Rodney.[5]
- ^ a b c d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rodney. Retrieved March 4, 2024. Archived from the original.
- ^ "Rodney Center Historic District". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
PBS-2013was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Logan 1980, pt. 1
- ^ Grayson, Walt (August 26, 2010). "Rodney Presbyterian Church". WLBT3. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016.
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