The First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

1
The First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Oktibbeha County FORUM
• Lee P. Beck

2
First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• 23 December 1833
• Division of Choctaw land
• Greater area than the current county boundaries
• Mimics the original shape

3
First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Hebron
• 1835
• Starkville
• Significant land transaction

4
First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Robert A. Lampkin and William B. Cushman
• 1834
• 25 acres
• Board of Police
• Elijah Hogan
• 10,000
• 25 acres sold VS same quality farmland
• 400/acre
• 2 - 3/acre

5
First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Initial sale of town lots
• Storefronts on Main Street
• Churches
• Masonic Lodge
• Price variance
• East vs West

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First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Starkville Real Estate and Banking Company
• Robert A. Lampkin, President
• Lasted only a few years
• Printed its own currency
• Limited its financial influence

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First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• State of Mississippi grants town charter
• 1837
• David Ames
• Original Board of Aldermen
• Elijah Hogan
• Robert A. Lampkin

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First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Looking back with a critical eye
• Possible questions of greed and corruption
• Land speculators who were also county officials
• Two hundred times the cost per acre of land than
  elsewhere in the county
• These particular individuals went on to become
  first postmaster, members of the first board of
  aldermen, officers of first bank as well as
  prominent businessmen.

9
First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County

• Better way of interpreting the intentions
• Consider the legacy left rather than their
  apparent personal gain.
• Lampkin, Hogan, and Cushman realized the
  potential of the acreage that became Starkville .
• Elevated
• Abundant water supply

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First Years of Starkville and Oktibbeha County
The careful thought and planning that accompanied
the individual financial gain of the original
planners of Starkville has left a town grid that
one hundred and seventy-two years after it was
developed still functions as the principle
business, financial, and judicial heart of the
town.