Robinhood, MS

Robinhood is a Rankin County census-designated place built around a chain of five lakes east of the Jackson metro area. Robinhood Lake is the central landmark; the lakes were formed in the early 1960s when dams were built across tributaries of Tumbaloo Creek. That gives the community a residential pattern of roads, wooded shorelines, and water at the center, instead of a conventional main street. Rankin County maps show Robinhood Lake and the surrounding neighborhood roads as a distinct part of the county's eastern landscape.

The water also carries a cautionary chapter. Tropical Storm Lee damaged one of Robinhood's earthen dams in 2011, bringing attention to the infrastructure that holds the lakes in place. Today the community's local feel still comes from the relationship between homes, dams, coves, and the creek system. Robinhood is an unincorporated Mississippi community shaped by planned lakes: the name points to a neighborhood, but the physical map is written by five reservoirs and the tributaries that feed them.