As the county seat, Holly Springs is a center of trade and court sessions. The city has several National Register of Historic Places-listed properties and historic districts, including the Southwest Holly Springs Historic District, Holly Springs Courthouse Square Historic District, Depot-Compress Historic District, and East Holly Springs Historic District.[6]Hillcrest Cemetery contains the graves of five Confederate generals and has been called "Little Arlington of the South".[7]
In 1836, the city had 4,000 European-American residents.[9] A year later, records show that 40 residents were lawyers,[9] and there were six physicians by 1838.[10] By 1837, the town already had "twenty dry goods stores, two drugstores, three banks, several hotels, and over ten saloons."[9] Hillcrest Cemetery was built on land settler William S. Randolph gave the city in 1837.[11]
Newcomers established the Chalmers Institute, later known as the University of Holly Springs, Mississippi's oldest university.[12][13]
The area was developed with extensive cotton plantations dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans. Many had been transported from the Upper South in the domestic slave trade, breaking up families.[9] Holly Springs served as a trading center for the neighboring cotton plantations. In 1837, it was made seat of the newly created Marshall County,[9] named for John Marshall, the Supreme Court justice. The town developed a variety of merchants and businesses to support the plantations. Its population into the early twentieth century included a community of Jewish merchants, whose ancestors were immigrants from eastern Europe in the 19th century.[14] The cotton industry suffered in the crisis of 1840, but soon recovered.[9]
In 1878, Holly Springs suffered a yellow fever epidemic,[9] part of a regional epidemic; 1,400 residents became ill and 300 died.[9] The Marshall County courthouse, at the center of Holly Springs's square, was used as a hospital during the epidemic.[8]
After the war and emancipation, many freedmen stayed in the area, working as sharecroppers on former plantations.[9] There were tensions after the war.
As agriculture was mechanized in the early 20th century, there were fewer farm labor jobs. From 1900 to 1910, a quarter of the population left the city. Many blacks moved to the North in the Great Migration to escape southern oppression and seek employment in northern factories. The invasion of boll weevils in the 1920s and 1930s, which occurred across the South, destroyed the cotton crops and caused economic problems on top of the Great Depression.[9] Some light industry developed in the area.[9] After World War II, most industries moved to the major cities of Memphis, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama.[9]
Geography
Holly Springs is located slightly east of the geographic center of Marshall County. Interstate 22 runs along the southwest border of the city, with access from exits 26 and 30. I-22 leads northwest toward Memphis, Tennessee, 46 miles (74 km) distant, and southeast 60 miles (97 km) to Tupelo. State highways 4 and 7 pass through the center of Holly Springs on South Craft Street and North Memphis Street. Highway 4 leads east 18 miles (29 km) to Ashland and southwest 34 miles (55 km) to Senatobia, while Highway 7 leads south 30 miles (48 km) to Oxford and northeast toward Bolivar, Tennessee, 45 miles (72 km) distant.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Holly Springs has an area of 12.8 square miles (33 km2), of which 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2), or 0.15%, are water.[2] The city sits on high ground that drains to the north and the west toward tributaries of the Coldwater River, and to the southeast toward Big Spring Creek, a tributary of the Little Tallahatchie River.
Climate
Holly Spring's climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Holly Springs has a humid subtropical climate.[16] On December 23, 2015, a massive EF4 tornado struck the town around 6:00 pm, causing significant damage.[17] James Richard Anderson, the Marshall County coroner, confirmed the boy's death.[17] Nearly 200 Marshall County structures were damaged during the tornado, some totally.[18]
Climate data for Holly Springs, Mississippi (1991–2020, extremes 1962–present)
As of the census[23] of 2000, there were 7,957 people, 2,407 households, and 1,699 families living in the city. The population density was 626.3 inhabitants per square mile (241.8/km2). There were 2,582 housing units at an average density of 203.2 per square mile (78.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 22.81% White, 76.18% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.06% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 2,407 households, out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.3% were married couples living together, 31.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 19.1% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,408, and the median income for a family was $25,808. Males had a median income of $29,159 versus $20,777 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,924. About 27.5% of families and 32.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.6% of those under age 18 and 21.2% of those age 65 or over.
Verina Morton Jones (1865–1943), African-American physician and the first woman to practice medicine in the state; served as resident physician at Rust College
Lation Scott (1893-1917), African American lynching victim
Shepard Smith (born 1964), American broadcast journalist for NBC News and CNBC; born in Holly Springs[31] and attended high school at Marshall Academy, one of the private schools in town
James F. Trotter (1802–1866), judge and U.S. senator who resided in Holly Springs until his death[32]
Edward Cary Walthall (1831–1898), Confederate general, lawyer, and U.S. senator from Mississippi
Ida B. Wells (1862–1931), African-American journalist, anti-lynching activist, and advocate for civil rights and women's rights; born in Holly Springs[33]
Absolom M. West (1818–1894), planter, politician, Civil War general and labor organizer, resided in Holly Springs after the Civil War until his death
^Kempe, Helen Kerr (1977). The Pelican Guide to Old Homes of Mississippi: Columbus and the North. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company. pp. 87–88.
^ abcdefghijklmnopCallejo-Pérez, David M. (2001). "CHAPTER THREE: Holly Springs: Introduction to a North Mississippi City". Counterpoints. 153: 20–32. JSTOR42976499.
^ abcMiller, Mary Carol (1996). Lost Mansions of Mississippi. Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 67–76.
^ ab"Holly Springs boy one of 3 tornado deaths in N. Mississippi." The Commercial AppealDec. 23, 2015
^Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. " Mississippi Emergency Management Agency - TWO ADDITIONAL DEATHS, STORM DAMAGE REPORTED TO MEMA." December 26, 2015Archived December 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
^"Station: Holly Springs 4 N, MS". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
^Durden, Robert Franklin (1981). "Hamilton, William Baskerville". Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817–1967. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 214–215. ISBN9781617034183.
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