Two hundred years ago, the Delta was little more than a vast swamp teeming with snakes and mosquitoes. So impenetrable was this flat, bayou-laced landscape that few men dared to settle within it. The only easy access was provided by the many rivers and bayous bordering and running through the region. The mighty Mississippi gave pioneers access to the Delta's western border, and thus the first settlements gained their footholds on the banks of Big Muddy. In the year 1836, just nineteen years after Mississippi became a state, a region along the river was mapped out and named Bolivar County. Adam Bingaman, a Natchez native and Battle of New Orleans hero, suggested the name to honor the famous

South American liberator and statesman, Simon Bolivar.
Between 1836 and 1844, the Bolivar county seat moved a number of times but remained on lands near the river. Finally, in 1851, the state legislature decreed that a spot known as Indian Point, directly opposite the mouth of the Arkansas River, should be the permanent site for county government. A brick courthouse and jail were erected there in what was then Prentiss, Mississippi, in 1856. Shelled by Union gunboats during the War Between the States, Prentiss fell into ruins and was abandoned to the ravages of the Mississippi. On the move again, the county seat relocated a number of times between 1866 and 1872 finally settling on a site first known as Floreyville but later christened for posterity as Rosedale. Bolivar County government maintains a courthouse to this day in the port city of Rosedale.

Around the same time that the county seat was being politically moved from place to place along the river, more adventurous settlers were making their way inland and finding high areas of fertile soil where land could be cleared. One such pioneer was named Moses P. Coleman. He acquired property along a stream named Jones Bayou on the eastern side of the county, built a home, and began the settlement that would soon become Cleveland.

In the mid-1800's, the railroad began selling land in this, the heart of the Delta. Sawmills sprang up to process the extensive timber being cleared from the fertile land, and, slowly but surely, farms, roads, and towns began to appear. In 1884, a rail line connecting Memphis and New Orleans was completed with a "golden spike" being driven near the spot on Jones Bayou where Coleman and others had settled. Situated almost exactly halfway between Memphis and the major port of Vicksburg, the small settlement was now connected to the outside world by dependable rail service. Dependence on the river waned, and fortunes were made selling timber. In 1884 the Jones Bayou settlement appeared in county records as Fontaine, Mississippi, though at various times it had also been known as Coleman or Coleman's Station in honor of its founder. In 1885, the name of the community had changed to Sims, the name of a major property owner. Finally chartered in 1886, the settlement at last adopted its present name of Cleveland in honor of President Grover Cleveland.
Soon banks, dry goods stores, saloons, and hotels shared in the growth of the community. The still-familiar names of Pearman, Smith, Beevers, Johnson, McKnight, Kamien, Nowell, and Taylor came to prominence as the town grew. The Delta was still plagued with numerous hardships - malaria was a constant threat well into the 20th century - but as the swamps were drained and the land cleared, more and more settlers came in with the railroad, and Cleveland prospered.

The early decades of the 20th century saw unimpeded progress and growth. When major fires burned whole sections of the town, they were rebuilt. By 1915, Italian immigrant farmers had arrived and began working fields west of town, a new Consolidated Agricultural High School had been built, a volunteer fire department was established, and the Bolivar Commercial newspaper had been published. With the exception of the school which has since grown to include multiple campuses, all the above are still a part of Cleveland today.

In 1915, another pillar of the Cleveland community was established with the creation of Delta Teachers College. The town and the county had grown to such a degree that Cleveland was seen as a perfect location for an institution of higher learning, and the town's residents overwhelmingly supported the bonds needed to secure the new college. Over the decades the Teachers College has evolved into what is now Cleveland's most prominent landmark, Delta State University. Boasting some 4,000 students, one of the most beautiful campuses in the state, and home to several national championship teams in both basketball and football; DSU is one of the most well-respected regional universities in the South.
World Wars, the Great Depression, and the turbulent 60's came and went, but Cleveland continued to thrive. U. S. Congressman David Bowen, Reagan press spokesman Larry Speakes, famous Boston Red Sox pitcher Dave "Boo" Ferriss, Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris, renown pianist Bruce Levingston, and many other outstanding individuals all claim ties to Cleveland and Bolivar County. The yearly Delta Council meetings held in Cleveland have been addressed by such notables as William Faulkner, Werner von Braun, and President George Bush. Industries including Baxter Laboratories, Du-oFast Corporation and Tyson Corporation have made Cleveland their home. The new port of Rosedale has revitalized the old county seat on the western side of Bolivar County. The future truly looks bright for this county and the city of Cleveland as they progress through their second century of life in the heart of the Delta.

Photos from "Reflections" published by The Bolivar Commercial ©1998