Starkville, Mississippi | |
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City | |
Cotton District
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Nickname(s): StarkVegas, Boardtown | |
Location of Starkville, Mississippi |
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Location in the United States | |
Coordinates: 33°27′45″N 88°49′12″W / 33.46250°N 88.82000°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Mississippi |
County | Oktibbeha |
City | 1835 |
Government | |
• Type | Mayor-Council government |
• Mayor | Parker Wiseman (D) |
Area | |
• Total | 25.8 sq mi (66.9 km2) |
• Land | 25.7 sq mi (66.5 km2) |
• Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2) |
Elevation | 335 ft (102 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 23,888 |
• Density | 851.4/sq mi (328.7/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP codes | 39759-39760 |
Area code(s) | 662 |
FIPS code | 28-70240 |
GNIS feature ID | 0678227 |
Website | City of Starkville |
Starkville is a city in and the county seat of Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. The Starkville Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Oktibbeha County. The population was 23,888 at the 2010 census.
Starkville is an anchor of the Golden Triangle region of northeast Mississippi which consists of Starkville, Columbus, and West Point.
The campus of Mississippi State University is located adjacent to and partially within the east of Starkville. As of the fall of 2011, MSU has over 20,000 undergraduate students, more than 4,000 graduate students, and more than 1,300 staff. The university is also the largest employer of Starkville. Students have created a ready audience for the Magnolia Film Festival. Held every February, it is the oldest film festival in the state. Other major events held in Starkville and heavily supported by the MSU Student Body are the Dudy Gras Parade, Cotton District Arts Festival, Super Bulldog Weekend, Old Main Music Festival, Ragtime & Jazz Music Festival, and Bulldog Bash.
The Starkville area has been inhabited for over 2100 years. Artifacts in the form of clay pot fragments and artwork dating from that time period have been found east of Starkville at the Herman Mound and Village site, a National Historic Register site that can be accessed from the Indian Mound Campground. Shortly before the American Revolutionary War period, the area was inhabited by the Choccuma (or Chakchiuma) tribe, who were annihilated about that time by a rare alliance between the Choctaw and Chickasaw. The modern early settlement of the Starkville area was started after the Choctaw inhabitants of Oktibbeha County surrendered their claims to land in the area in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. White settlers were drawn to the Starkville area because of two large springs. A mill southwest of town provided clapboards which gave the town its original name, Boardtown. In 1835, Boardtown was established as the county seat of Oktibbeha County and its name was changed to Starkville in honor of Revolutionary War hero General John Stark.