Quitman County is a county in Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta near the Tallahatchie River. It had a population of 6,176 at the 2020 census and covers 406 square miles (1,050 km2), of which 405 square miles are land, centred near 34°15′N 90°17′W.
Marks is the county seat, and its postal code is 38646. The county has five incorporated towns, one city, one census-designated place, and a handful of small unincorporated communities. Quitman County is in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in Quitman County
Quitman County has one city, five incorporated towns, one census-designated place (CDP), and about fifteen smaller unincorporated communities scattered across the cotton and soybean farmland of the Delta.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marks | City · seat | 1,444 | 38646 |
| Crenshaw | Town | — | — |
| Crowder | Town | — | 38622 |
| Falcon | Town | — | — |
| Lambert | Town | — | 38643 |
| Sledge | Town | — | — |
| Vance | Unincorp. | — | 38964 |
| Darling | CDP | — | 38623 |
| Allen | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Barksdale | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Belen | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Birdie | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bobo | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Chancy | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Denton | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Essex | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hinchcliff | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Longstreet | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Oliverfried | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Riverview | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sabino | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Walnut | Unincorp. | — | — |
| West Marks | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Yarbrough | Unincorp. | — | — |
West Marks is a rural community adjoining Marks itself, not a separate incorporated place — the two are not to be confused despite the shared name.
ZIP Codes
- 38646 — Marks (also serves West Marks)
- 38643 — Lambert
- 38622 — Crowder
- 38623 — Darling
- 38964 — Vance
Crenshaw, Falcon, and Sledge draw mail service from ZIP codes centred just outside the county line, since the towns sit close to the Panola and Tate county boundaries.
Geography
Quitman County lies flat in the alluvial floodplain of the Mississippi Delta, drained by the Coldwater and Tallahatchie rivers and a network of drainage canals built to manage the low, fertile bottomland. Farmland dominates the landscape, with cotton, soybeans, corn, and catfish ponds covering most of the county outside its small towns. The county borders Tunica County to the north, Panola County to the east, Tallahatchie County to the south, and Coahoma County to the west, with Tate County touching a short stretch of the northeast corner.
Demographics
Quitman County had 6,176 residents at the 2020 census, down sharply from a peak of 27,191 in 1940 as mechanized farming replaced sharecropping labor across the Delta. Marks, the county seat, is the largest community with 1,444 residents; Lambert and Crenshaw are the next-largest towns. Median household income in the county trails well behind the Mississippi median of $54,203, reflecting the persistent Delta-wide gap between farm-belt counties and the state as a whole. Population density is about 15 people per square mile, among the lowest in the state.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture anchors the local economy — cotton, soybeans, corn, and rice farming, along with catfish aquaculture, employ much of the workforce, either directly on farms or through allied services like grain elevators, cotton gins, and farm-equipment dealers. Quitman County Hospital in Marks and the Quitman County School District are among the largest non-farm employers. The county was the intended starting point Martin Luther King Jr. chose for the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, citing the visible poverty of Delta sharecropper communities; a mule-train procession from Marks to Washington, D.C. later opened the campaign after King’s assassination.
History
Quitman County was organized in 1877 out of parts of Panola, Tallahatchie, Coahoma, and DeSoto counties, and is named for John A. Quitman, who served two terms as Mississippi’s governor between 1835 and 1851. The county’s plantation economy depended on enslaved labor before the Civil War and on sharecropping afterward, a system that shaped its towns’ layout and later drove decades of outmigration once cotton picking was mechanized in the mid-20th century. Businessman Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, and several blues and country musicians trace their roots to the county.
Getting There
US Highway 278 crosses the county east-west through Marks, and Mississippi Highways 3, 6, and 315 provide the main north-south and local connections through the Delta towns.
- Clarksdale — 20 miles west
- Batesville — 25 miles southeast
- Tunica — 30 miles north
- Memphis, Tennessee — 65 miles north
The nearest commercial air service is Memphis International Airport, about an hour and a quarter’s drive north.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Quitman County, Mississippi?
It sits in the Mississippi Delta in the northwest part of the state, bordered by Tunica, Panola, Tallahatchie, and Coahoma counties.
What is the population of Quitman County?
6,176 residents at the 2020 census.
How big is Quitman County?
406 square miles (1,050 km2), of which 405 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Quitman County?
Marks is the county seat.
How many towns are in Quitman County?
One city (Marks), five incorporated towns (Crenshaw, Crowder, Falcon, Lambert, and Sledge), and one census-designated place (Darling), plus about fifteen smaller unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Quitman County?
38646 (Marks), 38643 (Lambert), 38622 (Crowder), 38623 (Darling), and 38964 (Vance).
Why is Quitman County significant to civil rights history?
Martin Luther King Jr. wanted the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign to begin in Quitman County because of the county’s stark, visible rural poverty.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Mississippi.