Rockport, Mississippi

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

Rockport, Mississippi
Unincorporated community
Rockport Rockport
Coordinates: 31°47′42″N 90°09′23″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Copiah
Elevation	270 ft (80 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	676770[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

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 battalion 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.[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

1. "Rockport". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. Brown, Calvin S. (2012). Archeology of Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. p. 47.
3. Nelson-Easley, LaTricia M. (2007). Copiah County. Arcadia. p. 22.
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. 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.