Collins, Mississippi

 

Collins, Mississippi
—  City  —
Location of Collins, Mississippi
Coordinates: 31°38′32″N 89°33′34″W / 31.64222°N 89.55944°W / 31.64222; -89.55944Coordinates: 31°38′32″N 89°33′34″W / 31.64222°N 89.55944°W / 31.64222; -89.55944
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
County	Covington
Area
- Total	7.6 sq mi (19.7 km2)
- Land	7.6 sq mi (19.7 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	292 ft (89 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	2,683
- Density	353.4/sq mi (136.4/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	39428
Area code(s)	601
FIPS code	28-15140
GNIS feature ID	0668700

Collins is a city in Covington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,761 at the 2005 census. It is the county seat of Covington County^[1].

Collins was the home of Dale Houston, a rock and roll singer whose I'm Leaving It Up To You reached No. 1 in 1963. Film legend Dana Andrews was born on a farmstead just outside Collins, and actor Gerald McRaney, and NFL stars Steve McNair, Correll Buckhaulter and former NBA star Randolph Keys, were all born in Collins.

Geography

Collins is located at 31°38′32″N 89°33′34″W / 31.64222°N 89.55944°W / 31.64222; -89.55944 (31.642276, -89.559403)^[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.6 square miles (20 km²), of which, 7.6 square miles (20 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.39%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2005, there were 2,761 people, 904 households, and 611 families residing in the city. The population density was 353.4 people per square mile (136.5/km²). There were 1,012 housing units at an average density of 133.3 per square mile (51.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 46.52% White, 52.44% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.67% from other races, and 0.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.60% of the population.

There were 904 households out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.4% were married couples living together, 28.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,661, and the median income for a family was $23,068. Males had a median income of $23,795 versus $16,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,912. About 34.1% of families and 39.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 59.3% of those under age 18 and 16.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Collins is served by the Covington County School District.

Attractions

• Collins Zoo.
• Grand Paradise Water Park

Hurricane Katrina and Duryea Adopt-A-Town

In September 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Collins. As most aid agencies were concentrating on major metropolitan areas like New Orleans, small towns like Collins were seemingly overlooked. Duryea, Pennsylvania, which had experienced similar flooding as the result of Hurricane Agnes in 1972, sought a town similar in size and demographics to "adopt" and help rebuild after the devastation wrought by the largest natural disaster in the history of the town. By hosting a bazaar and through other various fundraising efforts, Duryea helped rebuild. Collins Mayor V.O. Smith and his wife, Ada, flew the small town in Duryea to thank Duryea Mayor Keith Moss, organizer Trina Moss and the townspeople of Duryea. This led to a bond between the two towns and has included several visits to both towns.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Collins Zoo website