Doddsville, Mississippi
| Doddsville, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Location of Doddsville, Mississippi |
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 Doddsville, Mississippi
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| Coordinates: 33°39′27″N 90°31′27″W / 33.65750°N 90.52417°WCoordinates: 33°39′27″N 90°31′27″W / 33.65750°N 90.52417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Sunflower |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.8 sq mi (2.0 km2) |
| • Land | 0.8 sq mi (2.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 131 ft (40 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 98 |
| • Density | 141.0/sq mi (54.4/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 38736 |
| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-19420 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0669310 |
Doddsville is a town in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The population was 98 at the 2010 census. It was established by Daniel Doddsman Sr. in 1889.
Daniel Doddsman Sr. and his eldest son, Daniel Jr. were early settlers who hauled logs in the area in 1888, and purchased 107 acres (43 ha) of land where the town now stands in 1891. Oliver Eastland, grandfather of U.S. Senator James Eastland, bought a large tract of land near Doddsville in the 1880s, and his son Woods Eastland cleared the land to create a 2,300 acres (930 ha) plantation.
A landing called "Standing Stump" existed west of Doddsville on the bank of the Sunflower River. When river levels rose in the spring, boats from Vicksburg would follow the Yazoo River and then Sunflower River as far as Standing Stump, where a post office was located.
When the Yazoo Delta Railroad was completed in 1897, a depot was located in the town and named "Doddsville", after the Dodds brothers. By 1898, Doddsville had five stores, and the Sunflower Lumber Company was founded.
In 1904, Luther Holbert, an African-American, allegedly shot and killed white plantation owner James Eastland (uncle of future senator James Eastland), after Eastman confronted Holbert in his cabin. Eastman's murder gained national attention. Within days, a white mob had captured Holbert and his wife, after which the couple were tortured with oversized corkscrews, had their fingers and ears cut off to distribute to onlookers, and were burned to death while tied to a tree. The Holberts' gruesome murder inspired Bo Carter's 1936 blues hit All Around Man, with its references to "the butcher-man", "screwin", "grindin", and "bore your hole till the auger-man comes".
Doddsville was incorporated in 1920, and by 1922 the population was estimated at between 400 and 500. There was a hotel and rooming house, two drug stores with licensed pharmacists, two Chinese groceries, a Café, a dress shop, a school, two churches, a woman’s club, four doctors, and five passenger trains a day. The city hall was located inside the Doddsville Land and Mercantile Company store.
A jail was built in 1952, and a town water system installed in 1963.
In 1962, civil rights worker Charles McLaurin was in Sunflower County attempting to register black voters. In his report to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he wrote that Doddsville was the place:
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