Belmont, MS

Belmont grew out of a place first called Gum Springs, where a post office opened in 1884. The turning point was the Birmingham Division of the Illinois Central Railroad: when the line was completed through the area in 1907, the settlement gained the connection that turned it into a town. It incorporated as Belmont on January 22, 1908, and the name is generally taken to mean “beautiful mountain.” Today the town follows Mississippi Highway 25 through southern Tishomingo County, a few miles west of the Alabama line, with 1,859 residents counted in 2020.

Belmont’s present-day shape still carries that railroad-era role: it is a local center for nearby communities, with Tishomingo County schools and Northeast Mississippi Community College’s district in the mix. The town is close to Golden and Tishomingo, but it is not simply a bedroom stop on the way somewhere else. Its story is built from the old ingredients of a North Mississippi crossroads—rail access, a highway running through town, schools, churches, and small businesses that serve a wide rural area. The Alabama line nearby adds another layer to the everyday map.