Leflore County, Mississippi

Leflore County is a county in Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta region along the Yazoo and Tallahatchie rivers. It had a population of 28,339 at the 2020 census and covers 606 square miles (1,570 km2) centred near 33°33′N 90°18′W.

Greenwood is the county seat and its postal code is 38930. The county has 2 cities, 3 towns, and a dozen unincorporated communities. It sits in the Central time zone; its FIPS code is 45083.

Towns & Villages in Leflore County

Leflore County has five incorporated places — two cities and three towns — plus a cluster of unincorporated communities scattered across the Delta cotton and soybean flatland. “Unincorp.” below means the place has no city or town government of its own.

Money, a few miles north of Greenwood on the Tallahatchie River, is the community where Emmett Till encountered Carolyn Bryant at Bryant’s Grocery in 1955, an event that set off his murder and became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. Mississippi Valley State University, a public HBCU, sits just outside Itta Bena’s city limits and is often listed alongside it, but the campus is its own unincorporated address rather than part of the city.

ZIP Codes

• 38930 — Greenwood (also serves most of the county seat area)
• 38941 — Itta Bena
• 38946 — Morgan City
• 38773 — Schlater
• 38954 — Sidon
• 38945 — Money
• 38944 — Minter City

Smaller unincorporated places such as Berclair, Quito, Shellmound, and Swiftown are served by the nearest post office town rather than a ZIP code of their own.

Geography

Leflore County lies in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, a flat alluvial plain built by centuries of Mississippi and Yazoo River flooding. The Yazoo River forms south of Greenwood at the confluence of the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers, and the Tallahatchie runs through the county’s northern half. The land is 593 square miles, with about 14 square miles of water — oxbow lakes and river channels left behind as the rivers shifted course over time. It borders Tallahatchie County to the north, Grenada County to the northeast, Carroll County to the east, Holmes County to the southeast, Humphreys County to the southwest, and Sunflower County to the west.

Demographics

The 2020 census counted 28,339 residents. Greenwood is by far the largest community, with Itta Bena a distant second. Leflore County’s median household income runs well below the Mississippi median of $54,203, reflecting the Delta’s long-standing agricultural-wage economy and population decline since the mid-20th century. Population density is roughly 48 people per square mile of land.

Economy & Local Life

Row-crop farming — cotton, soybeans, corn, and catfish aquaculture — anchors the county’s economy, alongside agricultural processing and services based in Greenwood. Greenwood is headquarters to Viking Range (now Viking Culinary), the commercial and residential kitchen-appliance maker whose downtown factory and Alluvian Hotel helped revive the historic Cotton Row district. Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, part of the state’s public HBCU system, is one of the county’s largest employers. The Greenwood Little Theatre and the annual Cotton District events draw visitors to the county seat.

History

Leflore County was organized in 1871, carved from Sunflower, Tallahatchie, and Carroll counties, and named for Greenwood LeFlore, a Choctaw chief who signed the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek ceding Choctaw land in Mississippi in exchange for territory west of the Mississippi River. LeFlore himself did not relocate; he remained in the state and built Malmaison plantation nearby. The county seat, Greenwood, also takes its name from him. In August 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was abducted and murdered near Money after an encounter at a local store, a case that drew national attention to Jim Crow-era violence in the Delta and helped spur the civil rights movement.

Getting There

U.S. Route 82 crosses the county east–west through Greenwood, and U.S. Route 49E runs north–south, meeting near the county seat. Mississippi Highway 7 connects Greenwood north toward Batesville.

• Jackson — 96 miles south
• Memphis, Tennessee — 106 miles north
• Oxford — 60 miles northeast
• Clarksdale — 45 miles northwest

The nearest commercial airport is Greenwood-Leflore Airport, which offers general aviation service; the closest major commercial hub is Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Leflore County?
It is in the Mississippi Delta region of west-central Mississippi, centred near Greenwood.

What is the population of Leflore County?
28,339 as of the 2020 census.

How big is Leflore County?
606 square miles (1,570 km2), including 14 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of Leflore County?
Greenwood is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Leflore County?
Five incorporated places — the cities of Greenwood and Itta Bena, and the towns of Morgan City, Schlater, and Sidon — plus about a dozen unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Leflore County?
Main ZIP codes include 38930 (Greenwood), 38941 (Itta Bena), 38946 (Morgan City), 38773 (Schlater), 38954 (Sidon), 38945 (Money), and 38944 (Minter City).

What happened at Money, Mississippi?
Money is where Emmett Till’s 1955 encounter at Bryant’s Grocery led to his abduction and murder, a case that became a turning point in the American civil rights movement.

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