| Rosedale, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Location of Rosedale, Mississippi | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Bolivar |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.5 sq mi (14.2 km2) |
| • Land | 5.4 sq mi (14.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 151 ft (46 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 2,414 |
| • Density | 444.2/sq mi (171.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 38769 |
| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-63720 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0676870 |
Rosedale is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,414 at the 2000 census.
It is the same "Rosedale" that bluesman Robert Johnson referenced in his song "Traveling Riverside Blues." Locals claim that Johnson sold his soul to the Devil at the intersection of Mississippi state highways 1 and 8, on the south end of town, and that he tells this story metaphorically in "Cross Road Blues".[1] However, a number of other Delta municipalities claim that the transaction took place in or near their boundaries.
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Rosedale is located at (33.853747, -91.026829).[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14 km2), of which 5.4 square miles (14 km2) is land and 0.1-square-mile (0.26 km2) is water, for a total of 1.27% water.
Rosedale is situated on the eastern side of the Mississippi River, approximately midway between the mouths of the Arkansas and White Rivers, which flow into the Mississippi from the Arkansas (western) side.
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 2,414 people, 780 households, and 567 families residing in the city. The population density was 444.2 people per square mile (171.6/km²). There were 842 housing units at an average density of 154.9 per square mile (59.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 16.86% White, 82.02% African American, 0.37% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.75% of the population.
There were 780 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.2% were married couples living together, 37.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.56.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.9% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 17.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $17,955, and the median income for a family was $18,810. Males had a median income of $24,922 versus $15,714 for females. The per capita income for the city was $8,534. About 43.3% of families and 46.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 58.6% of those under age 18 and 34.6% of those age 65 or over.
The City of Rosedale is served by the West Bolivar School District.
This area in the nineteenth century was one of extensive cotton plantations, with enslaved laborers. After the American Civil War, some freedmen managed to clear and buy land in the bottomlands, with many becoming landowners before the end of the nineteenth century. By 1910, declining conditions had forced most to lose their land.[4] Others stayed to work as sharecroppers and laborers. Beginning in the early twentieth century, thousands of blacks left Mississippi as part of the Great Migration, north by railroad to Chicago and other Midwestern industrial cities, but others remained where they had been for generations, with strong local ties.
The Mississippi Blues Commission placed a historic marker at Rosedale's former Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad depot site, designating it as a site on the Mississippi Blues Trail. The marker commemorates the sites in the original lyrics of legendary blues artist Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues." He traced the railway route which ran south from Friars Point to Rosedale among other stops, including Vicksburg and north to Memphis. The marker emphasizes that a common theme of blues songs was riding on the railroad, which was seen as a metaphor for travel and escape. It also commemorates another common blues theme, life on the banks of a moody river bank, a theme heard in Charlie Patton's "High Water Everywhere."
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