Howardville, Missouri

Howardville is a city in central New Madrid County, Missouri. It had a population of 383 at the 2010 census.

History

Howardville is among the youngest communities in Southeast Missouri, not being founded until the 1940s. It was founded and named for Travis B. Howard, a Mississippi-born African-American graduate of Tuskegee Institute who believed land ownership would help the rural black community rise out of poverty. Beginning in 1947, he purchased some 200 acres of land southwest of New Madrid and divided it into small lots to be sold to black farm families in the vicinity. The town was incorporated in 1953 and designated a fourth class city in 1958, by which time it had a population of close to 200.

Howard not only served as its first mayor, he was also a teacher and principal at the all-black East Lilbourn High School, opened in 1958 and later renamed Howardsville High School. Though plagued by such problems as low teacher pay and overcrowding, the school nonetheless provided a quality education to many African-American students and had a good reputation in the region. It was eventually consolidated into the New Madrid County R-I School District, and ceased to operate as an educational facility after 1985. Howardville High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2018.

Geography

Howardville is located in central New Madrid County along U.S. Route 61/62, just west of its intersection with Interstate 55. The city of New Madrid, as well as New Madrid County Central Middle and High Schools, lies immediately to the east. Its exact coordinates are 36°34’03”N 89°35’56”W.

The city lies on the flat Mississippi Alluvial Plain, just a few miles from the Mississippi River. It has a total land area of 0.23 square miles, and an average elevation of 292 feet.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Howardville had a total of 383 inhabitants, grouped into 160 households, with a population density of 1,665.2 people per square mile. This figure represented a significant increase from the 2000 census, when Howardville had a population of 342. 5.74% of the inhabitants were White, 92.43% were African-American, 1.04% were Asian, and 0.78% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 0.52% of the population.

The median age in Howardville was 29.7 years, with 33.9% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 11.0% between 18 and 24 years old, 22.7% between 25 and 44, 18.1% between 45 and 64, and 14.4% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 41.3% male, 58.7% female.

According to the 2010 American Community Survey, the median household income in Howardville was $17,083, and the median family income was $19,688. The unemployment rate was 15.8%. The per capita income was $7,649. About 47.0% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 51.3% of people under the age of 18 and 43.3% of people 65 years old or older.