Carroll County, MS

Carroll County, Mississippi
Carroll County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Founded	1833
Named for	Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Seat	Carrollton (Northern District) Vaiden (Southern District)
Largest town	Vaiden
Area
• Total	635 sq mi (1,645 km2)
• Land	628 sq mi (1,627 km2)
• Water	6.3 sq mi (16 km2), 1.0%
Population
• (2010)	10,597
• Density	17/sq mi (7/km²)
Congressional district	2nd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,597. Its county seats are Carollton and Vaiden. The county is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Carroll County is part of the Greenwood, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area. Bordered by the Yazoo River on the west and the Big Black River to the east, it is considered within the Mississippi Delta region. Most of its land is in the hill country.

The Porter Wagoner song "The Carroll County Accident" was set here. The county is referred to in the third verse of Bobbie Gentry's 1967 hit song, "Ode to Billie Joe".

This area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations near the rivers. After the American Civil War, many freedmen worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers on the plantations. Other areas were used for timber. In 1890 the state legislature disenfranchised most blacks, who were a majority in the state, by creating barriers to voter registration; it also passed Jim Crow laws, treating freedmen and their descendants as second-class citizens.