page_title: Aberdeen, Mississippi
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Aberdeen, Mississippi / History
caption_attribution_description: English: African-American barbershop in Aberdeen, Mississippi.
context_page_description: Aberdeen is the county seat of Monroe County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,612.
  Located on the banks of the Tombigbee River, Aberdeen was one of the busiest Mississippi ports of the 19th century. Cotton was heavily traded in town, and for a time Aberdeen was Mississippi's second largest city. Today Aberdeen retains many historic structures from this period, with over 200 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. In the spring of each year, Aberdeen hosts pilgrimages to its historic antebellum homes. The most prominent of these antebellum homes is The Magnolias, which was built in 1850.
  Located just outside the city, Aberdeen Lock and Dam forms Aberdeen Lake, a popular recreational area. Aberdeen Lock and Dam is part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway system.
context_section_description: In 1540, Hernando DeSoto's expedition was the first European expedition to travel through the vicinity of Aberdeen.
  Aberdeen was first settled in 1834 and chartered as a town in 1837. In 1849, it became the county seat when Monroe County was formed.
  On February 18, 1864 a skirmish occurred between the Union army and the Confederate army in Aberdeen. Lieutenant Colonel Burgh and the Ninth Illinois Cavalry came into contact with rebel militias, driving them back and taking possession of Aberdeen. The battle resulted in the company 18 prisoners of war, as well as the destruction of confederate food supplies and machinery.
  In 1889, an African-American man called Keith Bowen was lynched by a mob after he "tried to enter a room where three white women were sitting."
  Hiram Revels, the first African-American United States Senator, died on January 16, 1901, while attending a church conference in Aberdeen.
  In 1914 Mayho Miller, an 18 year old Negro boy, was hanged by a mob.
  Aberdeen had a population of 3,708 in 1910.  Its population had risen to 5,920 by 1950.  Its population was 7,184 in 1980.
caption: Barbershop in Aberdeen, 1907
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