Possumneck, Mississippi Explained

Official Name:Possumneck, Mississippi
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:Mississippi#USA
Pushpin Label:Possumneck
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Mississippi
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Attala
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation M:99
Elevation Ft:325
Coordinates:33.1412°N -89.7418°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:39192
Area Code:662
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:676272

Possumneck is an unincorporated community located in Attala County, Mississippi, United States, along Mississippi Highway 19 and is approximately 4.3miles south-southeast of West.

History

Possumneck is on land that once belonged to the Choctaws until the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Settlers arrived in the 1830s from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The community was once known as "The Neck", as it is located on a neck of land between Sharkey Creek and the Big Black River. A local historian recounted that the name "Possumneck" was derived from a joke about all of the possums that lived in "The Neck", which caused its inhabitants to then refer to the community as Possumneck. J.A. Weeks, who was the first postmaster of Possumneck, reportedly built the first private airport in the state of Mississippi in Possumneck.[1]

In 1900, Possumneck had a population of 48. The community once had one of the largest sawmills and cotton gins in Attala County.[2]

A post office operated under the name Possumneck from 1893 to 1905.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hollingsworth . Nonnee Weeks . The History of Possumneck, Attala County, Mississippi . Mississippi State University Libraries . March 18, 2023.
  2. Book: Rowland, Dunbar . Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form . Southern Historical Publishing Association . 1907 . 2 . 457.
  3. Web site: Attala County . Jim Forte Postal History . March 18, 2023.