Census shows county growth of 15.2 percent
By: WALTER WEBB, Editor
The numbers are in and the 2000 Census shows that Marshall County grew by 15.2 percent over the last 10 years.
The Census shows Marshall County with a population of 34,993, an increase of 4,632 people over the 1990 figures.Like all of its neighbors except Benton County, Marshall County benefited from increasing population due to the influx of residents moving away from Memphis.
The runaway leader among those neighbors is DeSoto County which recorded a whopping 58.1 percent increase fueled by the growth of Southaven and Olive Branch, which swelled from 3,567 people in 1990 to 21,054 in 2000.
In just 10 years Olive Branch became the 15th largest city in Mississippi. In 1990 it ranked 70th.
With the increasing flood of people moving into Mississippi, the numbers portend an undeniable effect on Marshall County in the future.
Among the areas of Marshall County, those nearer to Memphis registered the most growth during the past 10 years.
In Supervisor District 3, the northwestern most part of the county which borders the state line on the north and DeSoto County on the west, figures showed a 29.9 percent increase in population.
District 3 grew from 6054 people in 1990 to 7866 in the 2000 Census.
While District 3 has been considered a district with majority white populaton and still is, the increase of black population into the area was more than white population.
Over the 10 years, District 3 gained 793 in black population and 776 in white population. The district has 5176 white population and 2447 black population.
However, in District 1, which contains a large part of Holly Springs, the Census showed an increase of 24.8 percent in population.
The district increased by 1,524 persons with gains by blacks of 872 to gains by whites of 210.
District 5 in the south part of the county increased population by 10.3 percent; District 4 south of Byhalia increased by 9.8 percent and District 2 in the northeast part of the county, increased 6.1 percent.
The Census figures show breakdowns in race which is important in developing plans for redistricting of supervisor districts.
Redistricting must be performed before the next county election to create districts which have approximately the same number of people.
The Census figures also include population by district of persons over 18 years of age, which is considered the voting age population (VAP) which is used to determine district lines.
The results from the Census show there are 25,155 persons of voting age in the county.
The average number of persons needed in each of the five supervisory districts is about 5,031 people 18 years or older.
Districts are increased or reduced in size to equalize the number of persons in each district.
A certain reduction in size would be needed in District 3 which has 5,813 VAP, according to the Census.
Districts 4 and 2 would need to add area while Districts 1 and 5 are close to the right figure.
County Engineer Larry Britt said that work on redistricting could be started late this year and ready to present to the Justice Department for approval early next year.
Approval from Justice usually takes 6 to 8 months, Britt said. The redistricting plan could then be ready by 2003 that would be the year of the next election.
Another implication for Marshall County in the Census figures is the possibility that Marshall County could be added to the Memphis Core Based Statistical Area.
Being added to the Memphis metropolitan area would yield dividends in recruiting business and industry.
"This puts us on the radar screen when people are looking at Memphis," said IDA Executive Director Charles McKellar.
Following the 1990 Census county and Memphis Chamber of Commerce leaders pushed to have Marshall County and other counties included in the Memphis metro area.
Only Fayette County, Tenn., was selected to push Memphis over the 1 million population mark.
"Marshall County is the next wave of growth," said Dexter Muller of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce in a September 2000 interview.
"The move is eastward past Collierville where new highways are opening providing new opportunities for Marshall County to develop," he said.