| MISSISSIPPI. | Mis´sis-sip´pi. "The Bayou State." |
Name of Indian origin, signifying "Father of Waters."
First permanent settlement at Natchez, 1716; admitted 1817; seceded 1861; re-admitted 1870.
Area, 46,810 square miles; extreme length, 332 miles; extreme breadth, 189 miles; mean breadth, 142 miles; gulf frontage, including irregularities and islands, 287 miles; harbors at Pascagonia, Biloxi, Mississippi City and Shieldsborough. Number counties, 74.
Temperature at Vicksburg: winter, 47° to 56°; summer, 80° to 83°. Rainfall, Natchez, 54 inches.
Jackson, the capital; pop., 5,204. Natchez, an important shipping point; pop., 7,058. Vicksburg, an extensive cotton market; pop., 11,814.
Railroad mileage, 1844, 26; Jan. 1, 1886, 1,947.
Number farms, 101,772. Average value per acre: cleared land, $7.88; woodland, $3.78.
Latest reports give 3,501 acres in rice; sugar cane, 4,555 acres; tobacco, 1,595 acres; corn, 1,889,600 acres; cotton, 847,000 bales; sweet potatoes, 3,610,660 bu.; wine, 209,845 gals.; molasses, 536,625 gals.; bales cotton used, 6,411; looms, 704; spindles, 26,172.
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