Leota, Mississippi

Leota is a ghost town located in Washington County, Mississippi, United States.[1] The settlement, along with its river port Leota Landing, were at one time located directly on the Mississippi River.[2][3]

Leota, Mississippi
Ghost town
Leota
Coordinates: 33°06′16″N 91°04′34″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Washington
Elevation	115 ft (35 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	687243[1]

History

Both Leota and Leota Landing were established on the Leota Plantation, founded in 1825 by Isaac Worthington. The plantation was located a few miles north on the Mississippi River from the former county seat of Princeton.[4]

The plantation was named by Worthington's daughter Annie, after a favorite fictional character.[4]

Leota was a leading river port between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was a shipping point for cotton.[4]

Leota was incorporated in 1882.[5]

The settlement had a post office, and a population of 50 in 1900.[3]

Little remains of the settlement, which is today covered by forest and a portion of the Mississippi River levee.[4]

Notable people

• Wilford Horace Smith - The first black lawyer to win a case before the Supreme Court of the United States.[6][7]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Leota
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Leota Landing
3. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. 2. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 90.
4. Woods, Woody (2010). Delta Plantations - The Beginning. Troy (Woody) Woods. pp. 75, 76, 184.
5. Laws of the State of Mississippi. Mississippi State Printer. 1882. p. 432.
6. Smith, Jr, J. Clay (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 300.
7. Thompson, Julius E. (2006). Lynchings in Mississippi: A History, 1865-1965. McFarland. p. 30.