Rockport is an unincorporated community in Copiah County, Mississippi.[1]

Rockport, Mississippi
Unincorporated community
Rockport Show map of Mississippi Rockport Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 31°47′42″N 90°09′23″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Copiah
Elevation	270 ft (80 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	676770[1]

Located a short distance west of the Pearl River, Rockport was once a thriving railway town, though little remains of the original settlement.

History

Indigenous people first occupied the area. Archeological remnants located near Rockport include pottery, copper beads, a sharpened point of a stake, skeletons, and mounds.[2]

The Galilee Baptist Church established west of the settlement in 1825, and is still located there.[3][4]

Rockport established in 1849.[3]

From 1856 to 1956, Rockport had a post Office.[5]

A battalion of the Confederate States Army was organized in Rockport in July 1861. Known as the "Rockport Steel Blades", they were part of the 6th Mississippi Infantry.[6]

In 1870, a bill was introduced in the Mississippi State Senate to establish a ferry across the Pearl River at Rockport.[7]

The early settlement had a drug store, barber shop, stores, Masonic lodge, and hotel called the Rockport Hotel.[3][8]

The New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad was built through the settlement in 1909, and Rockport was a flag stop.[3][9] Trains like The Rebel once passed through Rockport.[10] The line is now abandoned.[11]

By 1937, Rockport contained only a small store, gas station, post office and church.[3]

References