Olive Branch, Mississippi

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Olive Branch is a city located in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. With a population of 39,711 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth most populous city in Mississippi. A suburb of Memphis, Olive Branch is part of the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region that consists of three counties in southwest Tennessee, five counties in northwest Mississippi, and one county in eastern Arkansas. Along with other rapidly growing places in DeSoto County, Olive Branch attributes most of its growth and development to the exodus of large numbers of families from the city of Memphis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Historic downtown Olive Branch

Olive Branch, originally named Watson’s Crossroad, was established in 1846 near Chickasaw Indian Trails and incorporated in 1874, prioritizing education since the 1500s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early history

It was long inhabited by the Chickasaw people, who settled in northern Mississippi, western Tennessee, northwestern Alabama, and southwestern Kentucky, building homes with local materials. They nurtured park-like lands and utilized abundant waterways for sustenance and trade. Governed democratically, minkos (or chiefs in Chickasaw) led councils of elders. The Natchez Trace Parkway and National Scenic Trail protect parts of the historic trading route. European explorers, including Hernando de Soto in the 1500s, encountered Chickasaw communities and made unfavorable impressions. The Chickasaw minko provided supplies but resisted Spanish demands for enslaved laborers, launching an attack. In the 1700s, they allied with the British, notably defeating the French alongside the Choctaw in the Battle of Ackia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

19th and 20th centuries

In 1836, among the first permanent settlers in the area were Stephen Flinn and his wife's brother-in-law, Milton Blocker. Blocker acquired his brother-in-law’s share of land near Olive Branch, earning him the title “Father of Olive Branch.” Following the Pontotoc Treaty, which allocated specific lands to the Chickasaw, DeSoto County was established in 1836. Blocker paid $1,600 for Sections 34 and 35 from Lush-Pun-Tubby, who shared the story of his tribe’s removal during the “Trail of Tears.” Many Choctaw perished on this journey. The Chickasaw resisted removal until 1834, when, despite negotiating with President Andrew Jackson, they were told to move to Indian Territory, leading to the death of Chief Levi Colbert during the journey.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other tribes, such as the Cherokee and Seminole, also faced removal. The Chickasaws signed the Treaty of Doaksville in 1837, which permitted their settlement within the Choctaw Territory. Most relocated between 1837 and 1851, with some remaining until the 1890s. During their settlement, Plains Indian tribes roamed the area, complicating the establishment of the Chickasaw presence. To maintain peace, the federal government constructed Fort Washita and Fort Arbuckle. In 1856, the Chickasaws separated from the Choctaws and established their own constitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The “Lusher Map,” completed in 1835, was the first detailed depiction of North Mississippi. The first land sale occurred in January 1836, selling nearly a million acres, followed by a second sale of over 2.6 million acres later that year. By 1837, the final surveys of the Cession were completed, and the Pontotoc Land Office, which was crucial to the establishment of North Mississippi counties, closed in 1854, becoming part of Pontotoc.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Flinn conveyed the land to Blocker for $6,400 (equal to $Template:Inflation today) in 1840. A small community initially known as "Cowpens" sprang up in the early 1840s. The name was changed to "Watson's Crossroads" in 1842. In 1846, when a post office was established, the name was changed again to "Olive Branch". Frances Wilson Blocker, a descendant of one of the community's founders, suggested the name as a way to symbolize the biblical story of a dove bringing a branch to Noah.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the American Civil War, forces under Confederate General Stephen D. Lee encamped in and around Ingram’s Mill, near Olive Branch.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While the forces under Union Colonel George Bryant destroyed the courthouse and the business district of Hernando, Olive Branch suffered no damage from the attack.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, on September 6, 1862, a skirmish broke out involving the 6th Illinois Cavalry Regiment led by Colonel Benjamin Grierson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1865, the United States Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau, a program that assisted black and white people in the cities within the South, including Olive Branch, by providing food, clothing, fuel, and legal counsel, along with establishing Mississippi's first public schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1868, Voters approved the state Constitution that formally ended slavery and affirmed Black voting rights, allowing the state to rejoin the Union in 1870. The Mississippi Constitution allows newly freed Black Mississippians the right to learn to read and write.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the war, Olive Branch was one of the voting precincts of DeSoto County before Tate County was formed in 1873.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following Congressional Reconstruction, Black men were given the right to vote. In DeSoto County and all across Mississippi, African Americans have played an active role in democracy, serving as voters and officeholders. At least 226 Black Mississippians held public office during the Reconstruction era. Mississippi has elected its first two Black U.S. senators to Congress. One of them is Hiram R. Revels, the other is Blanche Bruce.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A preacher named Jefferson J. Evans, who was born into slavery, was recently elected Sheriff of DeSoto County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Olive Branch was incorporated as a town on May 1, 1874. Ben Wesson was elected as the first mayor.<ref name="Wesson House2">Template:Cite web</ref> The Wesson House in Olive Branch, Mississippi, is one of three Dedicated Mississippi Landmarks in Desoto County. Built around 1875 by Ben F. Wesson, it was previously owned by Blocker, who died in 1847.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the first census conducted after incorporation in 1880, the population was 73. Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham built a railroad line through Olive Branch in 1885, connecting the town to Memphis and Birmingham. The town was officially designated a village on March 6, 1888.<ref name="Our History2">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1875, DeSoto County citizens sent a petition to Mississippi's Republican Governor, Adelbert Ames, for a pardon in a shooting incident, illustrating the charged political environment. Ames had requested federal troops to stop the violence but was denied, allowing white Democrats to terrorize Black voters and drive Republicans from office.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 1876, the tide turned once again when newly elected white Democrats, who had seized power during county and state elections in 1875 via the Mississippi Plan, began the process of returning Mississippi to a condition of white supremacist control akin to the days of slavery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The end of Reconstruction brought Mississippi into shatters with the implementation of Jim Crow Laws, a set of laws to disenfranchise African Americans and to make racial segregation the law of the land. The gains brought by Black residents in DeSoto County and elsewhere in Mississippi were overturned.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At the turn of the 20th century, nearly 200 people lived in Olive Branch. In the ensuing years, several modern amenities were introduced in the village, including the first cotton gin (1910), a public water system (1922), and electrical service (1927).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Olive Branch School, built in 1908, replaced an overcrowded 1873 building and served as Bethel Township High School while accommodating lower grades. After a fire in 1913, it was rebuilt in 1915 on its original foundation. A new high school was built in 1929, leading to the 1929 school becoming Olive Branch Junior High. Classes continued in the 1908 building until the early 1970s, after which it became a district warehouse. The school's design, by architect Charles Insco Williams, showcases Craftsman style with features like random field stone, stucco, deep eaves, and a low-pitched tile roof. The Olive Branch High School stands as the only remaining historic building on the Tecumseh campus and reflects the community's commitment to quality education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> T.H. Norvell's cheese plant (at the side of present-day Cadence Bank) opened in 1929, becoming the first major industry in Olive Branch. A public sewer system was built, and local streets were paved Template:Circa. The village experienced modest growth during the next few decades, rising from 441 in the 1940 census, to 534 in 1950, and 642 in 1960. Growth accelerated in the 1960s, and by 1970 the population had more than doubled to 1,513. The Civil Rights Movement in the American South during the 1950s and 1960s involved a diverse group of people. The movement sought legal enforcement of equality for African Americans that was guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution. At various points between 1954 and 1970, participants in the movement represented all strata of American life. White and Black people joined in the struggle, southerners as well as northerners agitated, Midwesterners and westerners participated, and women, along with men, protested. Elderly and young Americans were active in the movement as well; however, students from middle school through college came to the struggle much later than most. Not until the 1960s did a substantial number of America's youth join and contribute their efforts to the struggle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1962, Dr Leslie McLemore was the first African American to vote in DeSoto County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1971, a site located a few miles from downtown Olive Branch was chosen as the home of Holiday Inn University and Conference Center. Simultaneous with the construction of the university, Holiday Inn began work on a Template:Convert industrial park. This was followed by the opening of Olive Branch Airport in January 1973. With a runway length of Template:Convert, it is currently one of Mississippi's five busiest airports for landings and takeoffs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> U.S. Highway 78 was built through Olive Branch in 1974. Such developments and infrastructure improvements brought an influx of jobs, industries, and people to DeSoto County and Olive Branch.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 1990s were a period of explosive growth in the city; 3,567 people lived in Olive Branch at the 1990 census. In 1996, a land annexation to the west doubled the city's total land area. By 2000, the population had risen to 21,054, a 490 percent increase over the 1990 figure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

21st century

Olive Branch has become the second DeSoto County city to have a street dedicated in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights icon of the 1960's who was tragically killed in Memphis in April 1968.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the Board of Aldermen decided to put a sign instead of renaming the road after its figure, confusing its citizens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

Olive Branch is located in northeastern DeSoto County, at the junction of U.S. Route 78, and State Highways 302 (known locally as Goodman Road) and 305 (Germantown Road/Cockrum Street). Via US 78 it is Template:Convert northwest to the center of Memphis.

The city's northern border is the Mississippi/Tennessee state line. The Memphis city limits touch the western portion of Olive Branch's northern border. The city of Southaven, Mississippi, borders Olive Branch on the west, and unincorporated areas border the city to the east and south.<ref name="Old Towne">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Olive Branch has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert, or 0.56%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web</ref>

Climate

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Demographics

Template:US Census population

Olive Branch city, Mississippi – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pop 2010<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> % 2000 % 2010 Template:Partial
White alone (NH) 18,105 23,493 21,638 85.99% 69.40% 54.49%
Black or African American alone (NH) 2,369 7,696 13,827 11.25% 22.98% 34.82%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 37 47 72 0.18% 0.14% 0.18%
Asian alone (NH) 87 434 691 0.41% 1.30% 1.74%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 1 23 26 0.01% 0.07% 0.07%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 14 40 155 0.07% 0.12% 0.39%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) 134 354 1,442 0.64% 1.06% 3.63%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 307 1,397 1,860 1.46% 4.17% 4.68%
Total 21,054 33,484 39,711 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2010, there were 33,484 people. The racial makeup of the city was 70.2% White, 23.8% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.6% Asian, and Hispanic or Latino people were 4.2% of the population.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The median income for a household in the city was $69,030, and the median income for a family was $76,270.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the 2020 United States census, there were 39,711 people, 13,252 households, and 9,645 families residing in the city.

Economy

Many locally owned, small businesses have been operating in Olive Branch for several decades. Examples are Old Style Barbecue and Olive Branch Printing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several regional businesses, such as BancorpSouth and Holiday Inn, are also located in the area. In 2003, Memphis lost its only permanent indoor ice rink with the closure of the troubled Mall of Memphis. A new rink opened in Olive Branch in August 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Arts and culture

Olive Branch Old Towne features a historic trail, shops, festivals, music events, and a mural project funded by a grant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Olive Branch Arts Council launched Arts in the Alley and mural projects to boost local tourism and businesses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Parks and recreation

Olive Branch City Park

Olive Branch Parks and Recreation focuses on ensuring citizen participation in leisure activities, maintaining over 140 acres of parks, and enhancing program quality to meet community recreational, cultural, and environmental needs, benefiting all residents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government

Template:See also The mayor of Olive Branch is Ken Adams, a Republican. He has served since July 6, 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The city council consists of seven members who are each elected from one of six wards, known as single-member districts, with one alderman being elected at large and representing the entire city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Colleges and universities

Public secondary schools

Olive Branch is served by the DeSoto County School District.

  • DeSoto County Career and Technology Center East
  • Center Hill High School
  • Olive Branch High School
  • Olive Branch Intermediate School
  • Olive Branch Middle School

Public elementary schools

  • Center Hill Elementary School
  • Chickasaw Elementary School
  • Olive Branch Elementary School
  • Overpark Elementary School
  • Pleasant Hill Elementary School

Private schools

Infrastructure

Transportation

Highways

Major Local Routes

U.S. Route 78, which turns into Lamar Avenue after crossing the border in Memphis, Mississippi Highway 302 (MS-302/Goodman Road), and Mississippi Highway 305 (Cockrum Road, Germantown Road) are the main thoroughfares in the Olive Branch area.<ref name="Old Towne"/>

Railroad

A railroad line to Birmingham from Memphis runs through Olive Branch. It is used by BNSF.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

R.J. Corman’s Tennessee Terminal performs industrial switching in the Olive Branch industrial park, interchanging with the BNSF Memphis to Birmingham mainline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mass transit

While Olive Branch does not have its own dedicated mass transit system, it is served by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). MATA provides bus and paratransit services to the surrounding areas, including parts of DeSoto County, where Olive Branch is located. Residents of Olive Branch can access MATA services for transportation within the region and to Memphis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Airport

Olive Branch is served by Olive Branch Airport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

References

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