Clinton Black Community, Clinton, Mississippi

What was built

Established or development period: 1865–1875
Peak period: 1870–1875
Who built the community: Freedpeople of Hinds County who organized Republican clubs, schools and churches after emancipation.
Black population: Hinds County held a large Black majority.
Businesses: Not yet documented
Financial institutions: Not yet documented
Churches: Freedmen's churches that doubled as political meeting halls.
Schools: Freedmen's schools, several burned in the violence.
Hospitals: Not yet documented
Newspapers: Not yet documented
Entertainment & cultural institutions: Not yet documented
Other community institutions: Republican political clubs and Black officeholders.
Black land & property ownership: Limited Black landownership; most farmed as tenants.
Economic significance: A Black political majority in the county containing the state capital.

What happened

What happened?: On September 4, 1875, white Democrats attacked a Republican political barbecue at Moss Hill near Clinton, then hunted and killed Black residents across the county for days. The violence was part of the Mississippi Plan that ended Reconstruction in the state.
Trigger or precipitating event: A confrontation at a Republican political rally attended by hundreds of Black families.
Underlying historical context: The organized 1875 Mississippi Plan of intimidation, economic coercion and violence to overturn Black voting majorities.
Method of destruction / displacement: Massacre · Political Violence · Lynching
Date or period of destruction: September 4–6, 1875
Confirmed / documented deaths: At least 4 deaths at the rally itself.
Estimated deaths: Estimates of Black deaths in the following days range from roughly 20 to 50. SOURCES DIFFER.
People displaced: Black families fled to Jackson for protection; Black political participation collapsed.
Homes destroyed: Not yet documented
Businesses destroyed: Not yet documented
Acres or property lost: Not yet documented

Afterward

What happened to the land?: Political and economic control returned to white Democrats.
Was compensation paid?: None.
Was the community rebuilt?: No
What was rebuilt?: Not yet documented
Destroyed or displaced again?: Not yet documented
Second displacement date: Not yet documented
Second displacement cause: Not yet documented
What exists there today?: Historical markers and local commemoration efforts.
Descendant, reparation & restoration efforts: Local historical research and marker placement.
Historical significance: A central episode of the Mississippi Plan, the model for ending Reconstruction across the South.

Sources

Primary record
U.S. Senate, Report of the Select Committee to Inquire into the Mississippi Election of 1875 (1876)
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Primary record
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
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Source lookup
Nicholas Lemann, Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)
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Last verified: 2026-09-20. This is a living historical collection. Additional communities and documentation will be added as research and verification continue.