Beulah, Mississippi
| Beulah, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
Main Street in Beulah
|
|
 Location of Beulah, Mississippi |
|
 Beulah, Mississippi
|
|
| Coordinates: 33°47′26″N 90°58′50″W / 33.79056°N 90.98056°WCoordinates: 33°47′26″N 90°58′50″W / 33.79056°N 90.98056°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Bolivar |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.5 sq mi (1.2 km2) |
| • Land | 0.5 sq mi (1.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 144 ft (44 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 348 |
| • Estimate (2016) | 325 |
| • Density | 750/sq mi (290/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 38726 |
| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-05820 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0667037 |
Beulah is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 348 at the 2010 census, down from 473 as of the 2000 census.
Beulah is served by Mississippi Highway 1. Lake Beulah, an oxbow lake formerly connected to the Mississippi River, is west of the town. The Illinois Central Railroad had a station in Beulah, but the line is now abandoned.
Beulah is named after the Christian hymn Beulah Land, a favorite Frank A. Montgomery, an early settler to western Bolivar County.
The land southwest of Beulah was owned by a Choctaw family in the 1830s. A series of lawsuits caused them to lose their land, and Charles Clark took ownership. Clark established the Doro Plantation during the late 1840s and early 1850s, which grew to over 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) and became the most prosperous slave-owning plantation in the region. It continued to operate after the end of slavery until 1913. During that time, the Mississippi River flowed next to Beulah along "Beulah Bend" (now Lake Beulah), and Clark was often visited by Mark Twain while writing Life on the Mississippi.
In 1858, Frank A. Montgomery purchased a tract of land along the river north of the Doro Plantation and established a plantation. Beulah was one of its villages.
Mississippi River boats landed at points in the community, and there was a noted river trade. Freshwater clam harvesting – "clammin" – enabled a thriving pearl button industry.
In 1863, Union soldiers altered the course of the river by constructing a channel to avoid Beulah Bend, and the town became shut off from river commerce. The pearl button industry declined, as freshwater clams tend to concentrate in the bends of rivers, though many families still participate in clam harvesting at places they can access the river. Altering the river's course also destroyed the nearby towns of Prentiss and Napoleon.
...
Wikipedia