Gillsburg, Mississippi

Gillsburg, also spelled as Gillsburgh, is an unincorporated community in Amite County, Mississippi, United States.[1] The community is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Gillsburg, Mississippi
Unincorporated community
Gillsburg, Mississippi
Gillsburg, Mississippi
Coordinates: 31°01′31″N 90°39′21″W
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyAmite
Elevation
302 ft (92 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID690914[1]

History

Gillsburg was the location of the October 20, 1977 plane crash that killed three members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. A rental plane carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was low on fuel and crashed in a swamp in Gillsburg.[2] The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray. The other band members were seriously injured in the crash.

Gillsburg was home to the Wall family, one of the last black families to be held in peonage in the United States.[3]

A post office operated under the name Gillsburgh from 1879 to 1892 and under the name Gillsburg from 1892 to 1915.[4]

Notable person

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gillsburg
  2. Check-Six.com - The 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Crash
  3. Meadows, Bob (26 March 2007). "The Last Slaves of Mississippi?". People. Time Inc. 67 (12). Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  4. "Amite County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  5. Mississippi. Secretary of State (1964). Mississippi Official and Statistical Register. Secretary of State. p. 103.


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