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Shelby Mississippi Case Study

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Abstract

This paper focuses on an in depth community assessment of the past, present, and future of Shelby, Mississippi. Shelby was once a banner cotton center of Bolivar County. Shelby residents were once referred to as some of the most hospitable and happy people in the state. Shelby, Mississippi was also considered as one of the wealthiest towns per capita of the entire Mississippi Delta. Throughout the years, Shelby has changed from being a place of prosperity to a place needing revitalization. Many businesses have opened and closed in Shelby. Community development in Shelby would allow the town to compete with other small towns in the Mississippi Delta.

SHELBY COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT 3
Historic …show more content…

&T.R.R. was built. The town was incorporated as a town in 1891. According to Kelly (1917) Shelby was named after Mr. Isaac Shelby, who was an early settler. Isaac Shelby owned one of the largest plantations in the section of land where Shelby was established. Mr. Shelby was considered as one of the citizens with the best reputations in town. The land around Shelby was superior to any other land in the Delta. The land had the buckshot soil, which was preferred for producing cotton. The land that surrounded Shelby could produce any kind of crop that was planted. Shelby also had the best drainage system in Bolivar County (Kelly, 1917 p. 3). Shelby has a canal that empties into a large stream. Shelby also had one of the best track records when it came to business. Shelby’s history includes bank statements and post office receipts that showed how the businesses grew every year. Shelby’s population as of 2013 was 2,190 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). The ethnic/racial composition of Shelby has been predominantly black and whites made up a small percentage of its citizens. No other races were recorded in the census as living in Shelby. Shelby is also known as the “City of Justice”. In 1917 Shelby was one of the wealthiest cities per capita in the delta. It only recorded two failures in history and there were no consequences for those …show more content…

Shelby also shipped out 20,000 bales of cotton each year (Kelly, 1917 p. 3).
Citizens of Shelby own the oil mill and provided jobs for many of the people in the community. Shelby also had a spoke factory that shipped products to people all over the United States. Shelby’s water was known to be some of the purest water in the United States. The Shelby Depot emerged from a small commissary shack in 1884 to a depot in 1890. In 1900 it was known as the Depot of Shelby. In 1997 the depot became the public library in Shelby, Mississippi where it is still functioning today. The Shelby Depot is one of the historic buildings in Shelby. The building is functioning as a library where Marie Shorter is the current librarian (M Shorter, Personal Communication, October 1, 2014). James Quality Market is one of the oldest businesses in Shelby. It has operated for over thirty years.
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