D'Lo, Mississippi
Encyclopedia
D'Lo is a town in Simpson County
, Mississippi
, along the Strong River
. The population was 394 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson
Metropolitan Statistical Area
.
D'Lo was featured in Life
magazine for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II
than any other town of its size; 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the town has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), all land.
s that dotted the Strong River
in that area. It was not until 1874 that the first home was built there and the population began to grow slowly.
D'Lo post office
was established May 23, 1881, with Mary F. May as first postmaster. The name was changed to D'Lo effective January 1, 1950. After 1881 the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad was allowed to lay tracks through D’Lo resulting in a surge in population. Due to this increase of settlers in the community, on October 27, 1905, Governor James K. Vardaman declared D’Lo an official town.
The Town of D’Lo began to expand in 1916 when the Finkbine Lumber Company
chose it as the location for a $1,000,000 sawmill
plant. Finkbine constructed many homes in the community for their workers as well as a combination drygoods, hardware, grocery store, farm supply, feed and seed, general store known as Kew Mercantile Company. During the peak of the Finkbine’s sawmill plant operation, between 1916 and 1930, D’Lo was recognized as the largest town between Jackson
and Hattiesburg
. The town featured two large YMCA buildings, a movie theater, ten grocery stores, a furniture store, three appliance dealers, ten gas stations, seven butcher markets, a dry cleaner, five cafes, three auto shops, a boat building and cabinet shop, a machine shop, three pharmacies, a bank, lighted basketball courts, professional basketball and baseball teams, and a newspaper called The D’Lo Herald. The town also had Baptist
and Methodist
churches, a three-story brick school with 550 students and 17 teachers, and a three-story hospital called Pine View which was considered the best hospital between Jackson
and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
, as far as equipment and doctors were concerned. During this time the population of D’Lo was estimated to be around 5,000, which made it the second largest milling town in the United States
. However, by the 1930s the Finkbine Mill had consumed almost all the timber in the surrounding counties resulting in the plant being permanently shut down.
With the Finkbine sawmill closed, D’Lo began to see a major decline in population which had a tremendous effect on the local economy. It was not until several years later that D’Lo was able to bounce back. This was mainly because U.S. Route 49
had just been paved through D’Lo and a second growth of timber was now available in the surrounding areas. With the new highway and more timber to mill, D’Lo seemed to be back on its feet with a new hardwood sawmill that reportedly supplied timber to firms that built weapons and equipment for World War II
. Although the mill was effective at keeping D’Lo afloat for many years, it was never a large enough operation to recoup the huge loss of population. The town of D’Lo which once had an estimated population of 5,000 had dramatically dropped during the 1940s to around 400, which is still the estimated population.
The huge drop in population did not stop the town from being one of the most patriotic American towns during the World War II era. Of the town's population of about 400, around 150 men and boys served in the Armed Forces
during the war. About 46 volunteers also served prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor
. So many citizens of D’Lo served in the war that the July 1942 cover of Life magazine featured a picture of two young boys standing in the deserted streets of D’Lo with the headline, “D’Lo Men Have Gone Off to War” with a caption that stated, “There is a war and a country is in danger. When that happens the men drop what they are doing and go off from the deep southern hamlet of D’Lo, Miss.” The town has since been recognized with a monument located at the town’s community center which lists the names of all the D’Lo citizens who served during the war.
The oldest and probably the most common story is one that could easily be categorized as an “old wives' tale”. This story claims that an early settler referred to the D’Lo area around the Strong River where it commonly floods as being “too damn low”. When it came time for the village to get a post office he suggested that the village be named “too damn low” but the postal authorities would not approve of the profanity in the name. As an alternative someone came up with the name D-Low which over the years simply became the shortened version of D’Lo.
The next story came about after D’Lo’s original name, Millhaven, was rejected by the postal authorities as a town name. Purportedly the US Postal Service provided the village with a list of alternative four-letter names for the residents to choose from. Among these names was one spelled “Delo”. After the citizens chose this name a penman prepared a letter to be sent back to the authorities informing them of the name they had chosen. The letter was written in a fancy colonial script which more than likely would have put the little ‘e’ in Delo up above the ‘lo’. The story concludes that the little ‘e’ was probably misinterpreted as an apostrophe and therefore documented the village name as being D’Lo.
The final story also came about when the name Millhaven was rejected by the postal authorities as being an acceptable name for a town. The difference in this story is that the citizens of the village came up with the new name “De Leau”. This name was submitted and approved by the Postmaster but was later shortened to just D’Lo. Although this story seemed far-fetched the University of Southern Mississippi has proven that old maps from 16th-century French explorers show that they labeled the D’Lo area around the Strong River with the words “De l'eau sans potable”. This translates as “bad drinking water”. This leads us to believe that very early settlers and explorers may have been referring to this area as De leau and therefore that is why such an odd name was originally chosen to be the official village name.
of 2000, there were 394 people, 179 households, and 114 families residing in the town. The population density
was 569.7 people per square mile (220.5/km²). There were 206 housing units at an average density of 297.8 per square mile (115.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 79.19% White, 19.54% African American, 0.51% Native American, 0.25% Pacific Islander, and 0.51% from two or more races.
There were 179 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,750, and the median income for a family was $33,125. Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $21,731 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $15,469. About 11.7% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.
D'Lo had a one-screen movie theatre called the Lux Theatre located downtown - but it survived only until the 1950s.
Simpson County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 27,639 people, 10,076 households, and 7,385 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 11,307 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, along the Strong River
Strong River
The Strong River is a river in south-central Mississippi in the United States. It is a tributary of the Pearl River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.-Course:...
. The population was 394 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Jackson metropolitan area
The Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area in the central region of the U.S. state of Mississippi that covers five counties: Copiah, Hinds, Madison, Rankin, and Simpson. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 497,197...
.
D'Lo was featured in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
than any other town of its size; 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served.
Geography
D'Lo is located at 31°59′12"N 89°54′4"W (31.986665, -89.901030).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), all land.
History
D’Lo was originally known as the village of Millhaven during the early 19th century due to the many watermillWatermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s that dotted the Strong River
Strong River
The Strong River is a river in south-central Mississippi in the United States. It is a tributary of the Pearl River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.-Course:...
in that area. It was not until 1874 that the first home was built there and the population began to grow slowly.
D'Lo post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was established May 23, 1881, with Mary F. May as first postmaster. The name was changed to D'Lo effective January 1, 1950. After 1881 the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad was allowed to lay tracks through D’Lo resulting in a surge in population. Due to this increase of settlers in the community, on October 27, 1905, Governor James K. Vardaman declared D’Lo an official town.
The Town of D’Lo began to expand in 1916 when the Finkbine Lumber Company
Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company
The Finkbine-Guild Lumber Company was established to harvest and market the virgin longleaf pine stands of southern Mississippi during the early 20th century. The main sawmills were located in Wiggins and D'Lo, Mississippi...
chose it as the location for a $1,000,000 sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
plant. Finkbine constructed many homes in the community for their workers as well as a combination drygoods, hardware, grocery store, farm supply, feed and seed, general store known as Kew Mercantile Company. During the peak of the Finkbine’s sawmill plant operation, between 1916 and 1930, D’Lo was recognized as the largest town between Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
and Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
. The town featured two large YMCA buildings, a movie theater, ten grocery stores, a furniture store, three appliance dealers, ten gas stations, seven butcher markets, a dry cleaner, five cafes, three auto shops, a boat building and cabinet shop, a machine shop, three pharmacies, a bank, lighted basketball courts, professional basketball and baseball teams, and a newspaper called The D’Lo Herald. The town also had Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
churches, a three-story brick school with 550 students and 17 teachers, and a three-story hospital called Pine View which was considered the best hospital between Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Mississippi Gulf Coast
The Mississippi Gulf Coast refers to the three Mississippi counties which lie on the Gulf of Mexico: Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.The region was severely damaged by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and again by Hurricane Katrina in 2005....
, as far as equipment and doctors were concerned. During this time the population of D’Lo was estimated to be around 5,000, which made it the second largest milling town in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, by the 1930s the Finkbine Mill had consumed almost all the timber in the surrounding counties resulting in the plant being permanently shut down.
With the Finkbine sawmill closed, D’Lo began to see a major decline in population which had a tremendous effect on the local economy. It was not until several years later that D’Lo was able to bounce back. This was mainly because U.S. Route 49
U.S. Route 49
U.S. Route 49 is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Piggott, Arkansas, at an intersection with U.S. Route 62. Its southern terminus is in Gulfport, Mississippi, at an intersection with U.S. Route 90. US 49 is approximately 516 miles in length.It...
had just been paved through D’Lo and a second growth of timber was now available in the surrounding areas. With the new highway and more timber to mill, D’Lo seemed to be back on its feet with a new hardwood sawmill that reportedly supplied timber to firms that built weapons and equipment for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Although the mill was effective at keeping D’Lo afloat for many years, it was never a large enough operation to recoup the huge loss of population. The town of D’Lo which once had an estimated population of 5,000 had dramatically dropped during the 1940s to around 400, which is still the estimated population.
The huge drop in population did not stop the town from being one of the most patriotic American towns during the World War II era. Of the town's population of about 400, around 150 men and boys served in the Armed Forces
Armed Forces
Armed Forces is Elvis Costello's third album, his second with the Attractions, and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. It was released in the UK by Radar Records and in the U.S. by Columbia in 1979...
during the war. About 46 volunteers also served prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
. So many citizens of D’Lo served in the war that the July 1942 cover of Life magazine featured a picture of two young boys standing in the deserted streets of D’Lo with the headline, “D’Lo Men Have Gone Off to War” with a caption that stated, “There is a war and a country is in danger. When that happens the men drop what they are doing and go off from the deep southern hamlet of D’Lo, Miss.” The town has since been recognized with a monument located at the town’s community center which lists the names of all the D’Lo citizens who served during the war.
Origins of the name D’Lo
The most controversial piece of D’Lo history is the origins of the name itself. There are currently three different stories that explain how the odd name of D’Lo originated.The oldest and probably the most common story is one that could easily be categorized as an “old wives' tale”. This story claims that an early settler referred to the D’Lo area around the Strong River where it commonly floods as being “too damn low”. When it came time for the village to get a post office he suggested that the village be named “too damn low” but the postal authorities would not approve of the profanity in the name. As an alternative someone came up with the name D-Low which over the years simply became the shortened version of D’Lo.
The next story came about after D’Lo’s original name, Millhaven, was rejected by the postal authorities as a town name. Purportedly the US Postal Service provided the village with a list of alternative four-letter names for the residents to choose from. Among these names was one spelled “Delo”. After the citizens chose this name a penman prepared a letter to be sent back to the authorities informing them of the name they had chosen. The letter was written in a fancy colonial script which more than likely would have put the little ‘e’ in Delo up above the ‘lo’. The story concludes that the little ‘e’ was probably misinterpreted as an apostrophe and therefore documented the village name as being D’Lo.
The final story also came about when the name Millhaven was rejected by the postal authorities as being an acceptable name for a town. The difference in this story is that the citizens of the village came up with the new name “De Leau”. This name was submitted and approved by the Postmaster but was later shortened to just D’Lo. Although this story seemed far-fetched the University of Southern Mississippi has proven that old maps from 16th-century French explorers show that they labeled the D’Lo area around the Strong River with the words “De l'eau sans potable”. This translates as “bad drinking water”. This leads us to believe that very early settlers and explorers may have been referring to this area as De leau and therefore that is why such an odd name was originally chosen to be the official village name.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 394 people, 179 households, and 114 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 569.7 people per square mile (220.5/km²). There were 206 housing units at an average density of 297.8 per square mile (115.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 79.19% White, 19.54% African American, 0.51% Native American, 0.25% Pacific Islander, and 0.51% from two or more races.
There were 179 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,750, and the median income for a family was $33,125. Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $21,731 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $15,469. About 11.7% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.
Entertainment Attractions
D'Lo has a water park called D'Lo Water Park on the Strong River which runs through the town of D'Lo.D'Lo had a one-screen movie theatre called the Lux Theatre located downtown - but it survived only until the 1950s.
Town Facts
- A portion of the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?O Brother, Where Art Thou?O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely...
, known as the "Siren Scene", was filmed on the banks of the Strong River at the D'Lo Water Park.
- The famous aircraft carrier the USS LexingtonUSS LexingtonUSS Lexington may refer to one of many actual or fictional vessels:In the United States Navy:, a brigantine acquired in 1776 and captured in 1777, a sloop in commission from 1826 to 1830 and from 1831 to 1855, a timberclad gunboat in commission from 1861 to 1865, an aircraft carrier commissioned in...
which was sunk in 1942 during the Battle of the Coral SeaBattle of the Coral SeaThe Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
was constructed in some areas with lumber that had been milled in D'Lo.
Notable natives
- Joe L. Allbritton, American businessman (born 1924)
- Benjamin J. Brassfield, Experimental Poet, Harmonica Player (born 1987)