Carroll County, Mississippi

Carroll County is a county in Mississippi, United States, along U.S. Route 51 in the north-central part of the state. It had a population of 9,998 at the 2020 census and covers 635 square miles (1,640 km2) — 628 square miles (1,630 km2) of land and 6.3 square miles (16 km2) of water — centred near 33°27′N 89°55′W.

Carroll County is unusual in Mississippi for having two county seats: Carrollton serves the Northern District and Vaiden the Southern District. Carrollton’s postal code is 38917; Vaiden’s is 39176. The county has three incorporated towns and about twenty unincorporated communities, and it observes Central time.

Towns & Villages in Carroll County

Carroll County has 23 named places on record: three incorporated towns (Carrollton and Vaiden, both county seats, plus North Carrollton) and roughly twenty unincorporated communities and crossroads settlements. Mississippi does not use civil townships, so the table below has no township column.

Vaiden, the larger of the two seats, was the county’s original single seat until Carrollton was added as a second district seat in the 19th century — the dual-seat arrangement still stands today. The ZIP code 38954 (Sidon) also reaches into the county’s western edge, though the town of Sidon itself sits over the line in Leflore and Yazoo counties.

ZIP Codes

• 38917 — Carrollton
• 39176 — Vaiden
• 38923 — Coila
• 38943 — McCarley
• 38947 — North Carrollton (PO Box only)

Most of the county’s smaller unincorporated communities have no ZIP code of their own and use the Carrollton or Vaiden delivery area instead.

Geography

Carroll County straddles the boundary between the Mississippi Delta and the hill country to its east — most of its land area is hilly, even though the Yazoo River forms part of its western edge and the Big Black River its eastern edge. The county lies within the Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Carroll County borders Grenada County to the north, Montgomery County to the east, Attala County to the southeast, Holmes County to the southwest, and Leflore County to the west.

Demographics

Carroll County had a population of 9,998 at the 2020 census, a density of roughly 16 people per square mile on its 628 square miles of land. Vaiden (907) and Carrollton (423) are the county’s two largest incorporated communities; most residents live outside either town limit, in unincorporated communities or on rural farmland. Median household income in the county runs below the Mississippi median of $54,203, consistent with the county’s rural, agriculture-based economy.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture drives much of Carroll County’s economy — row crops such as cotton, soybeans and corn on the Delta-edge bottomland, alongside cattle and timber in the hill country to the east. The Carroll County School District serves the whole county; high-school students in the northern district attend J.Z. George High School in North Carrollton, named for the Mississippi senator and Reconstruction-era jurist.

History

Carroll County was organized in 1833 and named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Carrollton is the site of the Carroll County Courthouse Massacre of 1886, in which a mob killed a group of Black men on the courthouse square after a dispute; it remains one of the deadliest documented courthouse-square killings of the post-Reconstruction South. Malmaison, once the plantation home of Choctaw chief and state senator Greenwood Leflore, stood in the county’s southwest corner until it burned in 1942; the ruins and the community that took its name remain on the county map today.

Getting There

U.S. Route 51 runs north–south through the county via Vaiden, and U.S. Route 82 crosses it east–west; Mississippi Highways 17 and 35 provide secondary links, and Interstate 55 is reachable a short drive east via MS 35 through neighboring Montgomery County.

• Winona — about 10 miles east
• Greenwood — about 20 miles northwest
• Grenada — about 20 miles north
• Kosciusko — about 30 miles southeast

The nearest commercial air service is Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, roughly 85 miles south via US 51 and I-55.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Carroll County, Mississippi?
It is in the north-central part of the state, along U.S. Route 51 between Grenada and Winona.

What is the population of Carroll County?
9,998 at the 2020 census.

How big is Carroll County?
635 square miles (1,640 km2) total, including 6.3 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of Carroll County?
Carrollton is the county seat for the Northern District and Vaiden is the county seat for the Southern District — the county has kept a dual-seat system since the 19th century.

How many towns are in Carroll County?
Three incorporated towns — Carrollton, North Carrollton and Vaiden — plus about twenty unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Carroll County?
38917 (Carrollton), 39176 (Vaiden), 38923 (Coila), 38943 (McCarley) and 38947 (North Carrollton, PO Box only).

What happened at the Carroll County Courthouse in 1886?
A mob killed a group of Black men on the courthouse square in Carrollton in one of the deadliest documented courthouse-square killings in the post-Reconstruction South.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Mississippi.