Van Buren is a ghost town located in Itawamba County, Mississippi.

Van Buren, Mississippi
Ghost town
Van Buren Show map of Mississippi Van Buren Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 34°11′30″N 88°24′41″W
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Itawamba
Elevation	262 ft (80 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	679181[1]

Once a busy port on the Tombigbee River, Van Buren is today a rural farm community.

History

Van Buren was located on a high bluff on the river's west bank.[2] It was named for Martin Van Buren. North of Van Buren was Frog Level Swamp.[3]

Before Fulton was made the county seat in 1837, private homes and stores were used to conduct government business, including the store house of Elisha Thomas at Van Buren.[4][5]

Winfield Walker, a nephew of Winfield Scott, settled in Van Buren in 1838, and became a merchant.[2]

By 1840, Van Buren was the largest town in Itawamba County, and had a busy river port.[5] The populations of both Fulton and Van Buren grew with settlers through the 1840s, and both had blacksmith shops, doctor's offices, stores, and lawyer's offices.[4] A post office operated under the name Van Buren from 1839 to 1867.[6]

The completion of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad west of Van Buren in the late 1850s caused river traffic to diminish;[5] the railway "ruined it and the old site is now under cultivation".[2]

References

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