West, MS

West is a town in northeastern Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. The 2020 census counted 153 residents. The Mayor of West, MS as of December 2020 is Michael Fancher. West made national news in 1989 when all-white East Holmes Academy, now closed but formerly located in West, initially refused to play a football game against Heritage Academy because Heritage had a black player. That mix gives West a clear local shape within Mississippi, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. After seven East Holmes players quit the team, two board members resigned and the Mississippi Private School Association threatened to eject the school, East Holmes relented. West is bordered to the east by the Big Black River, which is also the Attala County line. West is the easternmost municipality in Holmes county.