Famous Or Notable Residents Or Former Residents of Greenville, Mississippi

Greenville is a city that is located in Washington County in the state of Mississippi. Greenville is the largest city in northern Mississippi. The population in Greenville is around forty thousand, which makes it more plausible that there are famous or notable people living in this city.

This city was named after an American Revolutionary War hero by the name of Nathaniel Greene. Greenville sits on the eastern bank of Lake Ferguson, which is a lake left from an old channel of the Mississippi River. If you visit this part of Greenville, you will find a floating casino near downtown.

North of Greenville, you will find the Winterville Mounds Historic Site. This site includes a museum and a picnic area. There are also Indian burial mounds located in this area.

Greenville was the home to some very notable people and also the birthplace to some of those notable people. Jim Henson, the famous puppeteer was born in Greenville. His works are still delighting children today. It was also the birthplace of Mary Wilson, who was a singer for The Supremes.

Shelby Foote, a famous author, was also born here. Pro baseball player, Frank White was born in Greenville. Also born in Greenville: archaeologist Theresa Helbach, Chinese American journalist Sam Chu Lin and World War II Medal of Honor recipient Robert T. Henry. As you can see, a colorful array of people have originated from this city. Greenville is also the hometown of the Percy family.

Le Roy Percy is a United States Senator and William Alexander Percy was an author that took charge of the flood recovery in Mississippi in 1927. William Alexander Percy wrote an autobiography on the Mississippi Delta that was far more informative than any other was. Walker Percy, another author, wrote a novel entitled “Love Among the Ruins.” An African American bear hunter by the name of Holt Collier is buried in Greenville. Holt Collier was a guide for President T. Roosevelt on a bear hunt at one point in time.

Betty Jo Crisler, also from Greenville, became one of the first women Methodist ministers in the plains of Texas. Leon Whittaker was an African American trombonist that lived in Greenville in the early days of his career. Jerry Rice, who is a famous athlete, resides in Greenville now.

As you can see, Greenville has been very prosperous with famous and notable individuals. Throughout Greenville’s history there have been notable figures born and raised there. There were also several notable people that lived some of their days out in this city.