Rosedale

History

Rosedale was settled around 1838 and became one of the two county seats in 1872. This area was developed by European American planters for extensive cotton plantations, dependent on enslaved laborers. After the Civil War and emancipation, some freedmen managed to clear and buy land in the bottomlands, with many becoming landowners before the end of the nineteenth century. By 1910, a lengthy recession and declining economic and political conditions resulted in most blacks in the state losing their land. They could not compete with the financing gained by railroads, which were constructed in the area beginning in 1882 Many stayed in the area to work as sharecroppers and laborers. The railroad brought new business to Rosedale, which had a depot and shipped cotton to northern and other markets. Rosedale incorporated as a town February 2, 1882 and became a city in 1930. Beginning in the early twentieth century, tens of thousands of blacks left the state of Mississippi as part of the Great Migration, north by railroad to Chicago and other Midwestern industrial cities. During and after World War II, others went to California to work in the defense industry. Others remained where their families had lived for generations, with strong local ties. In 2007, the Mississippi Blues Commission placed a historic marker at Rosedale's former Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad depot site, designating it as a site on the Mississippi Blues Trail. The marker commemorates the sites in the original lyrics of legendary blues artist Robert Johnson's song "Travelling Riverside Blues". He traced the railway route which ran south from Friars Point to Rosedale among other stops, including Vicksburg and north to Memphis. The marker emphasizes that a common theme of blues songs was riding on…

Geography

Rosedale is located northwest of Cleveland. According to the United States Census Bureau, Rosedale has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.14%, is water. Rosedale is situated on the eastern side of the Mississippi River, approximately midway between the mouths of the Arkansas and White rivers, which flow into the Mississippi from the Arkansas (western) side.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  162
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  148
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  141
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  139
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  133
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  124
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  123
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  123

Largest nearby schools

• WEST BOLIVAR ELEM
  Elementary · Rosedale · 260 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• WEST BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · ROSEDALE · 234 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• JOE BARNES VOCATIONAL CENTER
  High · ROSEDALE

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2019-01-08
  8 km WNW of Hollandale, Mississippi
• M 2.8 — 2003-12-31
  4 km NNE of Monticello, Arkansas
• M 3.1 — 2002-10-26
  3 km SE of Alligator, Mississippi
• M 2.8 — 2002-08-11
  8 km ESE of Darling, Mississippi