Itta Bena

History

The indigenous Choctaw Indians occupied the Delta region for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of European settlers, with ancestors stretching thousands of years into the past. The first removal treaty carried out under the Indian Removal Act was the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, by which the Choctaw ceded about 11 million acres of the Choctaw Nation (now Mississippi) to the United States in exchange for about 15 million acres in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, a state senator from Claiborne County, Mississippi, is credited with the founding of Itta Bena. Following several crop failures in the 1850s at his home in Claiborne County, Humphreys took a trip by river steamer up into the Yazoo wilderness to look for a new farming opportunity in the former Choctaw area. Following the Civil War, Humphreys was elected as governor of Mississippi. As other settlers moved into the area, the village that grew up around the plantation was also called Itta Bena. Planters used the Yazoo River to ship cotton downriver, ultimately to New Orleans for transport to markets in the United States and Great Britain. Cotton continued as the commodity crop and the source of local wealth after the American Civil War. Construction of the Columbus and Greenville Railway, begun in 1888 and serving the village, stimulated trade and growth. Among the first to build stores were J. B. Humphreys, P. Cohen, and Uriah Ray. The first store was operated by H. M. Weber and a man named Long. The town’s first school, a one-room building only for white students, was built in 1888 and Emma Cross served as the first teacher. Development of the growing city continued in the early 20th century. The first high school was erected in 1905, across from the present-day First…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (2.72%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  83
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  79
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  77
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  66
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  66
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  65
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  64
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  53

Largest nearby schools

• GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
  High · Greenwood · 637 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• DAVIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · Greenwood · 408 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• AMANDA ELZY HIGH SCHOOL
  High · Greenwood · 395 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• LEFLORE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
  High · ITTA BENA · 347 students · 13.3:1 ratio
• BANKSTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · Greenwood · 338 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• THREADGILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · Greenwood · 335 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• LEFLORE COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · ITTA BENA · 322 students · 12.9:1 ratio
• CLAUDINE F BROWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · GREENWOOD · 259 students · 13.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2019-01-08
  8 km WNW of Hollandale, Mississippi
• M 3.1 — 2002-10-26
  3 km SE of Alligator, Mississippi
• M 2.8 — 2002-08-11
  8 km ESE of Darling, Mississippi