Robinsonville | |
---|---|
Census-designated place & unincorporated community | |
Location within the state of Mississippi | |
Coordinates: 34°49′1″N 90°18′58″W / 34.81694°N 90.31611°WCoordinates: 34°49′1″N 90°18′58″W / 34.81694°N 90.31611°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Mississippi |
County | Tunica |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 1,910 |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP codes | 38664 |
Area code(s) | 662 |
Robinsonville, also known as Tunica Resorts, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northern Tunica County, Mississippi, north of the county seat of Tunica. The community is situated mostly between the Mississippi River and U.S. Route 61 along the border with Arkansas.
The population as of 2010 census was 1,910. Robinsonville is the site of nine casino resorts, and at one time generated the third largest gambling revenues in the nation, after Las Vegas, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey, but competition has increased in other locations, including properties owned by Native American tribes and operated on their reservations. The use of the name "Tunica" by the resorts led to the alternate name of Tunica Resorts to make it easier for tourists to find the destination.
In the first half of the 19th century, this area was developed as cotton plantations, part of what was considered the Mississippi Delta extending north to Memphis and south to Vicksburg. It depended on enslaved labor. After emancipation, many African Americans continued to work in agriculture in this area. In the early decades of the 20th century, thousands of African Americans migrated north from Mississippi to Chicago and other industrial cities in the Great Migration to leave the violence and oppression of the South, as well as the loss of jobs due to mechanization of agriculture. Population also declined in the county as railroads and highways drew off traffic from the river.
After 1995, gambling casinos and resorts were developed in the unincorporated community of Robinsonville, north of the county seat of Tunica. In a nod to riverboat gambling, to comply with state law, the casinos are built on floating platforms in the Mississippi River. Lacking the structure of an organized city or town, Robinsonville consists mainly of casinos and cotton fields, with few permanent residents living in the community.