Gloster, Mississippi

History

Gloster was incorporated on March 11, 1884.

It was largely founded as a railroad town. Gloster was named after the engineer who put the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley R.R. through in the 1880s.

Drax Biomass operates a 450000 metric ton per year wood pellet production facility in Gloster. The facility was expected to create 45 jobs, and is called Amite BioEnergy.

Economic revival

Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi came down to Gloster to announce Claw Forestry Services will build a $200 million sawmill on about 50 acres comprising the former Georgia-Pacific mill site and the adjoining former elementary school property. The elementary school has been closed for many years. Mayor Jerry Norwood said the announcement is "one of the proudest moments in my life, and my proudest moment as mayor."

William VanDevender, chief executive officer of Claw, said once the plant is up and running, it should produce about 250 million board-feet of lumber a year, using about 1 million tons of logs annually, and make sales of more than $100 million a year. VanDevender and other Claw officials "recognize the quality of the workforce and the quality of the timber basket in Southwest Mississippi," Reeves said after the presentation. "This will benefit not just the 130 families that have workers at the plant, but boost timber owners across a four to five-county region."

Governor Reeves said he "expects Southwest Mississippi Community College will play a large role in providing training for employees at the plant.

Gloster Forestry announced: "In connection with the new sawmill facility, efforts are underway to resume operation of the Gloster Southern Railroad to further revitalize industry and jobs in the underserved community."

The new sawmill facility started operation in 2024. Also a grant of $52,000,000 was received to rebuild the Gloster Southern Railroad on the existing right-of-way.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2020 census, there were 897 people in Gloster. As of the census of 2010, there were 960 people, 223 households, and 114 families residing in the town.

Race

In 2010, the racial makeup of the town was 54.99% African American, 44.18% White, 0.56% from other races, and 0.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.77% of the population. In 2020, the racial makeup was 70.57% African American, 25.64% non-Hispanic white, 0.33% Native American, 1.56% other or mixed, and 1.78% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Education

Gloster is in the Amite County School District.

Notable people

• Carl Augustus Hansberry, civil rights activist and real estate broker, father of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, litigant in Hansberry v. Lee (1940)
• William Leo Hansberry, scholar and Afrocentrist, professor at Howard University, brother of Carl Hansberry

References

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Gloster town, Mississippi". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder.
3. "Gloster". Amite County.
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5. (December 13, 2012). "Drax Biomass Announces Wood Pellet Production Facility in Gloster, Miss.". Mississippi Development Authority.
6. Spencer, Mark. (April 22, 2022). "Gloster wins $200 million sawmill project".
7. Tedrick, Ratcliff. (September 28, 2022). "CLAW Forestry breaks ground on new mill in Southwest Mississippi".
8. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
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11. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Amite County, MS". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
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