Purvis, Mississippi

Purvis, Mississippi

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Purvis, Mississippi

Purvis is a city in Lamar County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lamar County.

Geography
Demographics
Education
Noteworthy Facts

Tornadoes of 1908
1960's Vela Uniform/Project Dribble Nuclear Tests
Notable Residents (Past & Present)

References
External links

Geography

Purvis is located at (31.142616, -89.407724).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10.2 km²), of which, 3.9 square miles (10.2 km²) of it is land and 0.25% is water. Because of a well known system of aquifers and sand mines, this area was selected for "project dribble" to be the site of nuclear tests by the US government during 1961 to 1968 to measure seismic activity.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,164 people, 786 households, and 577 families residing in the city. The population density was 551.0 people per square mile (212.6/km²). There were 844 housing units at an average density of 214.9/sq mi (82.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.84% White, 27.68% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.23% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population.

There were 786 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,938, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $27,571 versus $17,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,727. About 11.3% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Noteworthy Facts

Tornadoes of 1908

April 24, 1908, tornadoes killed around 200 and injured around 770 people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Three F4 tornadoes accounted for most of the deaths and damage. Most of the town of Purvis, Mississippi was leveled to the ground, only seven houses remained intact. It is the seventh most deadly tornadic outbreak in United States history.

1960's Vela Uniform/Project Dribble Nuclear Tests

Vela Uniform was an element of Project Vela conducted jointly by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Its purpose was to develop seismic methods for detecting underground nuclear testing.

The Project Dribble program involved two nuclear detonations called Salmon and Sterling that were conducted within Tatum Salt Dome southwest of the Hattiesburg/Purvis area in the late 60's.

The Sterling Event was the fourth nuclear detonation involved in a study, identified as Project Dribble, sponsored by the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency. Project Dribble involves the recording and identification of seismic signals from underground detonations. These studies are part of a seismic research program called Vela Uniform which is designed to improve the United States' capability to detect, identify, and locate underground nuclear detonations.

Project Dribble's purpose was to give U.S. scientists experience in detecting underground nuclear tests in the Soviet Union. The first blast, a 5.3 kiloton bomb, took place in 1964 at the bottom of a 2,710-foot shaft 28 miles southwest of Hattiesburg and four miles northeast of Baxterville. The second bomb, much smaller, was exploded two years later within the cavity created by the first blast. (To be sure, these were only two of well over a thousand documented nuclear tests by the United States, with the vast majority taking place in Nevada.) ^[1]