Van Buren, Mississippi

Van Buren
Ghost town
Van Buren
Coordinates: 34°11′30″N 88°24′41″W / 34.19167°N 88.41139°W / 34.19167; -88.41139Coordinates: 34°11′30″N 88°24′41″W / 34.19167°N 88.41139°W / 34.19167; -88.41139
Country United States
State Mississippi
County Itawamba
Elevation 262 ft (80 m)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
GNIS feature ID 679181[1]

Van Buren is an ghost town located in Itawamba County, Mississippi.

Once a busy port on the Tombigbee River, Van Buren is today a rural farm community.

History

Van Buren was located on a high bluff on the river's west bank.[2] It was named for Martin Van Buren. North of Van Buren was Frog Level Swamp.[3]

Before Fulton was made the county seat in 1837, private homes and stores were used to conduct government business, including the store house of Elisha Thomas at Van Buren.[4][5]

Winfield Walker, a nephew of Winfield Scott, settled in Van Buren in 1838, and became a merchant.[2]

By 1840, Van Buren was the largest town in Itawamba County, and had a busy river port.[5] The populations of both Fulton and Van Buren grew with settlers through the 1840s, and both had blacksmith shops, doctor's offices, stores, and lawyer's offices.[4]

The completion of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad west of Van Buren in the late 1850s caused river traffic to diminish;[5] the railway "ruined it and the old site is now under cultivation".[2]

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Van Buren
  2. 1 2 3 Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. 2. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 847.
  3. ↑ Franks, Bob. "Van Buren Photos". MSGenWeb. Retrieved April 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. 1 2 "A Concise History of Early Itawamba County". Itawamba Historical Society. Retrieved April 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 Mills, Mona Robinson (2013). Itawamba County. Arcadia. p. 8.


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