Woodville, Mississippi

Woodville, Mississippi
Town
Wilkinson County Courthouse in Woodville
Location of Woodville, Mississippi
Woodville, Mississippi Location in the United States
Coordinates: 31°6′10″N 91°17′59″W / 31.10278°N 91.29972°W / 31.10278; -91.29972Coordinates: 31°6′10″N 91°17′59″W / 31.10278°N 91.29972°W / 31.10278; -91.29972
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Wilkinson
Area
• Total	1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2)
• Land	1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	404 ft (123 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	1,192
• Density	1,112.0/sq mi (429.3/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	39669
Area code(s)	601
FIPS code	28-81120
GNIS feature ID	0679870

Woodville is a town in and the county seat of Wilkinson County, Mississippi. The population was 1,096 at the 2010 census.

The Woodville Republican, a weekly newspaper founded in 1823, is the oldest surviving business (and thus the oldest newspaper) in Mississippi.

This historic town, one of the oldest European-American towns in Mississippi, is set among the rolling hills and pastures of Wilkinson County, just north of the Louisiana-Mississippi border in the southwest corner of the state. It was incorporated in 1811, after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and not long before Mississippi’s admission to the United States in 1817.

It was developed along the historic corridor between St. Francisville, Louisiana, 24 miles to the south and Natchez, Mississippi, 34 miles to the north. Since pre-colonial times, communities within this corridor have been linked, first by the Lower Natchez Trace, a footpath and portage developed by Native Americans and serving the east bank of the Mississippi River. In the 20th century, U. S. Highway 61, the “Blues Highway,” was later built along this route; it is considered the spine of jazz and blues, America’s music.

Painter John James Audubon visited Woodville during his sojourn in St. Francisville in the 1820s. Here he found more than 26 of the species which he documented and painted for his Birds of America series.

Some of Woodville’s families date to the 18th century. Much of its significant architecture was built in the 19th century when cotton was a commodity crop. The community has organized the Woodville Main Street Association; the Wilkinson County – Woodville Public Library; and the Wilkinson County Museum and the African-American Museum, both restored and owned by the Woodville Civic Club. Among the Main Street Association’s initiatives are the Woodville Hospitality Station, providing a tourist information and rest stop to North-bound travelers on Highway 61, near the town boundary. The annual Deer & Wildlife Festival is staged each October on and around the Courthouse Square. The Civic Club has published three volumes of The Journal of Wilkinson County. A fourth book is in the works.