Midnight, Mississippi
Encyclopedia
Midnight is an unincorporated community located in Humphreys County
, Mississippi
, United States
. Midnight is approximately 5 miles (8 km) north of Louise
and 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Silver City
along Mississippi Highway 149
.
Although Midnight is unincorporated, it has a zip code
of 39115.
In the 2000s a resident named Gwen McKenzie and other Midnight residents lobbied to have a highway sign installed that indicated the direction to Midnight. In 2009 the streets in Midnight received names and numbers.
said that Midnight "feels like a place whose time has expired." Bengali explains that the clapboard houses, which were built almost one century before 2010, "rot on their cinder-block legs, tilting at crazy angles" and that Midnight's principal road is "dotted with abandoned or half-burned cabins that, older residents complain, young men disappear into to shoot dice or smoke pot as the days fade into dusk."
says that Midnight's electricity is "spotty."
Midnight once had a small United States Postal Service
(USPS) post office that had survived the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
. On October 5, 2002 the Midnight Post Office closed. By 2010 it had been demolished as part of the USPS's service cuts.
Humphreys County, Mississippi
-Demographics:At the 2000 census, there were 11,206 people, 3,765 households and 2,695 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 per square mile . There were 4,138 housing units at an average density of 10 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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Midnight is approximately 5 miles (8 km) north of Louise
Louise, Mississippi
Louise is a town in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 315 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Louise is located at ....
and 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Silver City
Silver City, Mississippi
Silver City is a town in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 337 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Silver City is located at ....
along Mississippi Highway 149
Mississippi Highway 149
Mississippi Highway 149 is a state highway in western Mississippi. Highway 149 runs from its southern terminus at U.S. Route 49 and Mississippi Highway 16 in Yazoo City to U.S. Route 49W in Silver City. The highway also passes through the town of Louise and unincorporated community of Midnight....
.
Although Midnight is unincorporated, it has a zip code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
of 39115.
In the 2000s a resident named Gwen McKenzie and other Midnight residents lobbied to have a highway sign installed that indicated the direction to Midnight. In 2009 the streets in Midnight received names and numbers.
Geography
Shashank Bengali of McClatchy NewspapersThe McClatchy Company
The McClatchy Company is a publicly traded American publishing company based in Sacramento, California. It operates 30 daily newspapers in 15 states and has an average weekday circulation of 2.2 million and Sunday circulation of 2.8 million...
said that Midnight "feels like a place whose time has expired." Bengali explains that the clapboard houses, which were built almost one century before 2010, "rot on their cinder-block legs, tilting at crazy angles" and that Midnight's principal road is "dotted with abandoned or half-burned cabins that, older residents complain, young men disappear into to shoot dice or smoke pot as the days fade into dusk."
Government and infrastructure
Houses in Midnight did not have street addresses until 2009. Midnight does not have a sewage system. Shashank Bengali of McClatchy NewspapersThe McClatchy Company
The McClatchy Company is a publicly traded American publishing company based in Sacramento, California. It operates 30 daily newspapers in 15 states and has an average weekday circulation of 2.2 million and Sunday circulation of 2.8 million...
says that Midnight's electricity is "spotty."
Midnight once had a small United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
(USPS) post office that had survived the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States.-Events:The flood began when heavy rains pounded the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to...
. On October 5, 2002 the Midnight Post Office closed. By 2010 it had been demolished as part of the USPS's service cuts.