Holly Springs

City and seat of Marshall County, in northern Mississippi; population (1990) 7,300. Holly Springs stands 82 km/51 mi south-southwest of Corinth and 61 km/38 mi southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. It was the scene of bitter fighting during the Civil War, and was raided a total of 62 times.

Holly Springs was founded during the 1830s cotton boom, and was also home to an early iron industry. It was strategically important during the Civil War; in 1862 General Ulysses S Grant established a supply depot here for the Vicksburg campaign. However, the town was soon retaken by Confederate forces under Earl Van Dorn. Some 90 antebellum residences are preserved here. Although the cotton economy declined later in the 19th century, the city remains a market centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The city is the site of Rust College (founded 1866), one of the oldest black liberal arts schools in the USA. E H Crump (1876–1954), longtime political boss of Memphis, was born nearby.