Bankston, Mississippi

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Bankston, Mississippi
Ghost Town
Location of Historical Bankston in northwest Choctaw County, Mississippi
Location of Historical Bankston in northwest Choctaw County, Mississippi
Bankston is located in Mississippi
Bankston
Bankston
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country United States
State Mississippi
County Choctaw
Elevation 410 ft (120 m)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s) Area code 601
GNIS feature ID 707488[1]

Bankston is a ghost town in Choctaw County, Mississippi. The nearest community is French Camp, located 8 miles (13 km) to the south-southwest.

History

File:Bankston Cemetery.jpg
Bankston Cemetery, 2007

In 1848, the first successful, mechanically powered textile mill in Mississippi was founded in Bankston by James Madison Wesson.[2] It was named for one of Wesson's financial backers, Mr. Banks from Columbus, Georgia.[3] Located on McCurtain’s Creek,[4] a tributary of the Big Black River, the Bankston Textile Mill, also known as Mississippi Manufacturing Company, produced cloth and shoes for the Confederacy after Mississippi seceded from the Union.

Because of its isolated location in the backwoods of Choctaw County, the Bankston Mill continued to operate through 1864. The end came when scouts for the Union Army learned that the mill was turning out one thousand yards of cloth and 150 pairs of shoes each day.[5] Benjamin Grierson’s federal troops arrived on the night of December 30, 1864, and set fire to the cotton factory, the wool factory, the flour mill, and the shoe factory while locals slept.[2]

All that remains of the town is the Bankston Cemetery.

References

  1. GNIS (Historical Bankston, Mississippi) Retrieved 2013-07-23
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wynne, Ben. 2006. Mississippi’s Civil War: A Narrative History. Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia. Retrieved 2013-07-22
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. A History of Cotton Mills and the Industrial Revolution Retrieved 2013-07-23
  5. The Bankston Textile Mill Retrieved 2013-07-22

External links


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