Flora, Mississippi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Flora is a town in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,546 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 Attractions
5 Media
6 Recent History
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Flora is located at 32°32′35″N, 90°18′43″W (32.543056, -90.311843)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.8 km² (3.4 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,546 people, 575 households, and 416 families residing in the town. The population density was 175.6/km² (454.2/mi²). There were 606 housing units at an average density of 68.8/km² (178.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 57.05% White, 42.04% African American, 0.65% Native American, 0.06% from other races, and 0.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.32% of the population.

There were 575 households out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.7% were married couples living together, 25.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.3% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $38,077, and the median income for a family was $41,324. Males had a median income of $31,786 versus $22,176 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,075. About 18.7% of families and 25.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.4% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

The Town of Flora is served by the Madison County School District.

[edit] Attractions

Just outside of the Flora city limits lies a forest collection of petrified wood, the Mississippi Petrified Forest, which purports to be the only such forest east of the Mississippi River.

[edit] Media

Flora is served both by radio station WYAB 93.1 FM and a monthly newspaper, The Flora Harvester.

[edit] Recent History

In April of 2004, radio station WYAB 93.1 FM moved to Flora from nearby Yazoo City.

In June of 2005, Flora had its municipal elections. Charles Scott Greaves defeated challenger Maria Sue Jones for the post of mayor. Mayor Greaves replaced outgoing mayor Jw Richardson, who decided not to run for reelection after holding the post for two terms. Current elected officials include Aldermen Mike Westbrook, Randy Grewe, L.V. Sumler, Les Childress, and Alderman-at-Large Jonathan Bates. The Flora City Clerk is Debbie Ross. The Flora City Attorney is Ronnie Kirk. The Flora Police Chief is Ernie Scarborough. Meetings of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen are generally held the second Tuesday evening of each month at 6:45 p.m. at city hall.

In the Spring of 2006, the United States Department Of Homeland Security announced that Flora would be considered as a site for the construction of the National Agro and Biodefense Facility, which is expected to be operating in the year 2011. As of the end of 2006, the town was still on the list of potential sites (along with thirteen other candidate locations) for the facility, which would replace the existing animal disease research center at Plum Island, New York. The formal announcement for the new facility is expected to come out in 2008, with construction to begin shortly thereafter. If selected, the center would be located in Flora's Industrial Park.