NAME ORIGIN: It is named for one of the men who bought and cleared the land in 1905.
GEOGRAPHY: Pace is located in the center of Bolivar County, Mississippi, 12 miles east of the Mississippi River. It is in the Delta, an alluvial plain resulting from the deposits of the flooding of the river.
POPULATION: Approximately 20,000 people left Bolivar County during the past 20 years, resulting leaving four stores where 17 once served and the closing of the railroad, high school, and many Pace businesses. The population had decreased to 630 with a high proportion being elders and over half of the citizens racing a major portion of their income from welfare at the time of the Human Development Consult.
CHALLENGES: This is some of the most fertile soil in the world. The major farming crops being cotton, rice and soybeans. However only 5 percent of the residents owned any farmland. Because of the mechanization of cotton production and the minimum wage law, employment in the area decreased drastically.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A total of $1,816,050 investment has been secured from the private sector and the public sector for use in community projects.
25 new fulltime jobs for adults and 21 part-time jobs for youth represent a 15% increase of new jobs since October, 1977.
Residents consulted with the Mississippi Research & Development Center to create a Comprehensive Plan for Delta Pace including total land use, a sewer system, water systems, housing designs totalling $1,600,000.
Community Pride has blossomed with revitalization of the Main street, renovation of several buildings, the new Pace Town Hall, Pace Post Office and community playground.
Delta Pace has served as a sign of possibility to Mississippi where over 400 Town Meetings have been held the last three years.
A community preschool has provided employment for 9 people and serves 87% of the preschool population
Approximately 1/6 of the population has joined community service groups.
