Duncansby, Mississippi

Duncansby is a ghost town in Issaquena County, Mississippi, United States.[1]

Duncansby, Mississippi
Ghost town
Duncansby Duncansby
Coordinates: 32°57′51″N 91°04′47″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Issaquena
Elevation	102 ft (31 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	687591[1]

Duncansby was located on a stretch of the Mississippi River known as Duncansby Chute.[2]

In 1844, nearby Skipwith became the first county seat. Shortly after, the county seat was moved to Duncansby. In 1848, the county seat was again moved, to Tallula.[3]

During the 19th century, the town erected dikes in an effort to reduce river flooding.[2]

In 1900, Duncansby had two churches, a post office, and a population of 157.[4]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the Sarah Cutoff in 1935, which created Old River Chute, an oxbow lake, and removed Duncansby from the contiguous Mississippi River.[5]

Nothing remains of the former community.

References

1. "Duncansby Landing, Mississippi". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. Annual Report of the Mississippi River Commission. Mississippi River Commission. 1884. p. 423.
3. Hellmann, Paul T. (2006). Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Routledge. p. 599.
4. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. 1. Southern Historical Publishing Association. p. 666.
5. Bragg, Marion (1977). "Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River" (PDF). Mississippi River Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-24.