Rockport is an unincorporated community in Copiah County, Mississippi.[1]

Rockport, Mississippi
Rockport is located in Mississippi
Rockport
Rockport
Rockport is located in the United States
Rockport
Rockport
Coordinates: 31°47′42″N 90°09′23″W / 31.79500°N 90.15639°W / 31.79500; -90.15639
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyCopiah
Elevation
270 ft (80 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID676770[1]

Located a short distance west of the Pearl River, Rockport was once a thriving railway town, though little remains of the original settlement.

History

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Indigenous people first occupied the area. Archeological remnants located near Rockport include pottery, copper beads, a sharpened point of a stake, skeletons, and mounds.[2]

The Galilee Baptist Church established west of the settlement in 1825, and is still located there.[3][4]

Rockport established in 1849.[3]

From 1856 to 1956, Rockport had a post Office.[5]

A company of the Confederate States Army was organized in Rockport in July 1861. Known as the "Rockport Steel Blades", they were part of the 6th Mississippi Infantry Regiment.[6]

In 1870, a bill was introduced in the Mississippi State Senate to establish a ferry across the Pearl River at Rockport.[7]

The early settlement had a drug store, barber shop, stores, Masonic lodge, and hotel called the Rockport Hotel.[3][8]

The New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad was built through the settlement in 1909, and Rockport was a flag stop.[3][9] Trains like The Rebel once passed through Rockport.[10] The line is now abandoned.[11]

By 1937, Rockport contained only a small store, gas station, post office and church.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Rockport". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Brown, Calvin S. (2012). Archeology of Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. p. 47. ISBN 9781617033490.
  3. ^ a b c d e Nelson-Easley, LaTricia M. (2007). Copiah County. Arcadia. p. 22. ISBN 9780738553009.
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Galilee Church
  5. ^ "Post Offices - Mississippi". Jim Forte. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  6. ^ "Company G - Rockport Steel Blades". 6th Mississippi Infantry Webpage. August 10, 2000.
  7. ^ Journal of the Senate of the State of Mississippi. Kimball, Raymond & Co., State Printers. 1870. p. 187.
  8. ^ Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi. Vol. 2. Goodspeed Brothers. 1891. pp. 203, 204.
  9. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form" (PDF). National Park Service. October 5, 1995.
  10. ^ "The Rebel". American-Rails.com. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  11. ^ "Stations and Structures on Current and Former Railroad Lines in Mississippi". Mississippi Railroad Information. July 19, 2015.