Rankin County, Mississippi: History
=== Formation and early settlement ===
Rankin County was established on February 4, 1828, from the portion of Hinds County lying east of the Pearl River. It was named for Christopher Rankin, a Mississippi congressman who served from 1819 to 1826. The county lies in central Mississippi, east of the Pearl River, and is bordered by Madison, Scott, Smith, Simpson, and Hinds counties.
One of the county's early settlements was Richmond, located on the east side of the Pearl River. The settlement later disappeared, and the site returned to cultivation. Brandon, named for Mississippi governor Gerard Brandon, was selected as the county seat and became an important early trading point in the area.
Rankin County's population grew from 2,083 in 1830 to 13,635 by 1860. In 1860, enslaved people made up 52 percent of the county's population. The county's economy was based largely on mixed agriculture, with farmers growing cotton, corn, rice, and potatoes while also raising livestock.
By 1860, Rankin County also had small-scale industry, including lumber mills, flour mills, and other enterprises. That year, the county had eighteen churches, most of them Baptist or Methodist congregations.
Education became part of Rankin County's early civic development. The Brandon Male and Female Academy was reorganized in 1849 as Brandon College and later became Brandon Female College. Frank Johnson served as principal of the school until her death in 1897.
Several figures associated with Rankin County became prominent in Mississippi's political and cultural history. Brandon attorney Robert Lowry became a Confederate brigadier general, state legislator, and governor of Mississippi from 1882 to 1890. Samuel Alfred Beadle, who had been born enslaved in Georgia, moved to Rankin County, studied law, and in 1884 became one of the few African Americans in Mississippi admitted to the bar.
After the Civil War, Rankin County remained largely agricultural. Its population reached 16,752 in 1880 and nearly 21,000 by 1900. During this period, African Americans made up about 60 percent of the county's population, though land ownership rates differed sharply by race. More than 70 percent of white farmers owned their land, compared with a much smaller share of Black farmers.
In 1909, educator Laurence C. Jones founded the Piney Woods Country Life School near the Simpson County line. The school was established to educate African American students in a rural setting and remains one of Rankin County's best-known institutions.
Rankin County also produced or was associated with several notable cultural figures during the early 20th century, including musician and fife maker Othar Turner, blues musician Elmore James, and football player Bruiser Kinard.
In the 1920s, Mississippi moved the state mental hospital from Jackson to Rankin County. The community where the institution was located was renamed Whitfield in honor of Rankin County native Henry L. Whitfield, who served as governor of Mississippi from 1924 to 1927.
Between 1930 and 1960, Rankin County's population increased to 34,322. During that period, the county's economy began shifting away from agriculture. By 1960, nearly one-quarter of Rankin County workers were employed in industry, especially furniture and timber, and more than 1,000 residents worked in hospitals and health care. Farming remained present, but farmers made up only 13 percent of the county workforce by 1960. …