Parma, Missouri

Parma is a city in western New Madrid County, Missouri. It had a population of 713 at the 2010 census.

History

Settlement in the Parma area dates back to 1874, when a village one mile from the present site was established by H. L. Shidler, an employee of the Little River and Arkansas Railroad, who named it Lotta after his daughter. In 1900, Louis Houck, who had planned many of the new railroads in Southeast Missouri, chose to intersect the Cottonbelt and St. Louis and San Francisco Railroads at this point. Houck, who had traveled extensively in northern Italy, dubbed the new community that grew up there Parma in honor of the Italian city of that name (he also caused the local township to be named Como). Parma was incorporated in 1903, with Lotta being absorbed into the new town.

Parma grew rapidly, thanks to the railroad junction and the clearing of the nearby swamps, and a number of stores and small factories were soon in operation. The city's population peaked at over 1,200 in 1920, then remained more or less stable until the 1980s, when it began a steady decline.

Parma made national news in April 2015, when Tyus Byrd was elected its first female African-American mayor. Five of its six police officers immediately resigned, as did the city clerk and the wastewater treatment plant supervisor. Though the reasons were unclear, with the clerk and supervisor citing "safety concerns" and many residents attributing it to clashes involving Byrd and the previous mayor, many in the media labeled it an incident of racism by white employees. In April 2019, Byrd was in turn defeated for reelection by Rufus Williamson, who fired several staffers and requested a state audit amid charges of corruption under Byrd's administration.

Geography

Parma is located along Missouri State Highway 153 in western New Madrid County, about nine miles northeast of Malden and 15 miles west of New Madrid. Its exact coordinates are 36°36’48”N 89°49’03”W.

The city is located on the flat Mississippi Alluvial Plain, with no significant topographical features. It has a total land area of 0.69 square miles, and an average elevation of 279 feet.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Parma had a total of 713 inhabitants, grouped into 283 households, with a population density of 1,033.3 people per square mile. This figure represented a significant decrease from the 2000 census, when Parma had a population of 852. 67.46% of the inhabitants were White, 29.45% were African-American, 0.14% were Native American, 0.56% were Pacific Islander, 1.12% were from some other race, and 1.26% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 2.81% of the population.

The median age in Parma was 39.8 years, with 26.2% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 7.8% between 18 and 24 years old, 22.5% between 25 and 44, 28.6% between 45 and 64, and 15.0% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 48.9% male, 51.1% female.

According to the 2010 American Community Survey, the median household income in Parma was $24,014, and the median family income was $28,125. The unemployment rate was 11.6%. The per capita income was $11,276. About 37.0% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 61.4% of people under the age of 18 and 22.7% of people 65 years old or older.

Education

Parma operated its own school district until 1980. Since that time, it has been a part of the New Madrid County R-I School District.

The town also has a branch of the New Madrid County Library.