Mission:

The Town of Edwards' mission is to enhance the quality of life in our Town by efficiently and innovatively meeting the needs of the citizens and giving full value for public investment. Whether you are a resident or a visitor you will find that our Town is anticipating the future while remembering what makes a town home.

In all of its activities, the Town will foster the environment and deliver the best possible public service integrating the needs of residents and business. We encourage citizens to be actively involved in making Edwards a better place to live.

About Us:

The Town of Edwards is a mayor-board of aldermen (also known as the "code charter") form of government. Four residents are elected from Ward I, Ward II, Ward III and Ward IV and one resident is elected at-large. The Mayor and Aldermen serve 4-year terms. The Mayor, who serves part time, presides over all meetings of the Board and is recognized as the head of the Town for ceremonial purposes. The Town was incorporated in 1871.

History:

The Town of Edwards is located in the western portion of Hinds County about 2 miles west of Jackson, Mississippi, the State Capital and 15 miles east of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Hinds County is bordered to the west of Warren County, southwest by Claiborne County, south by Copiah County, north by Madison County, and east by Rankin County.

Emigrants mostly from the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee first settled the Edwards community in the period 1820-1830. The first town in the Edwards community was known as Amsterdam and was located about two miles northwest of the present town of Edwards. The town of Amsterdam flourished during the 1830's and then just faded away. An epidemic of the cholera about 1832 and the fact that the Alabama & Vicksburg Railroad missed it by about two miles caused the death of the town.

Edwards had its beginning as a plantation settlement. R.O. (Dick) Edwards for whom the Edwards Hotel in Jackson is named owned the plantation, and with the coming of the Alabama & Vicksburg Railroad in 1839, it was know as Edwards Depot. The first depot was located about where the present Livestock Arena is located. The Yankees burned the depot in 1863 and the present location of the depot is about a quarter of a mile east of the old site. The removal of the town to its present site was made in 1866 and at once became a commercial center. The records show that as many as twenty thousand bales of cotton have been shipped from this point in a single season.

The Town of Edwards was incorporated in 1871. It is located on the Illinois Central Railroad and is 28 miles west of Jackson and 16 miles east of Vicksburg. Edwards is the heart of a section of the country that is most splendidly adapted to general farming and the raising of fine cattle. Edwards has some very fine old antebellum homes in its community. Many of these gracious old homes are still in excellent condition.

Edwards' first newspaper was The Echo, a weekly established in 1900. The disastrous Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1897 greatly reduced the town's population. In some families every member was ill at the same time and some members died and were buried without the others finding out. Some of the early personalities to mention a few, include R.O. Edwards for whom the town was named. Colonel W.A. Montgomery, early citizen, soldier and statesman; Dr. Estus, a native of the town, who turned his home into a hospital for southern soldiers during the Civil War.

The Southern Christian Institute a black educational institution was built near Edwards in 1882. Undoubtedly this brought many new people to the area and stimulated the town's economy. The Christian Church with the intention of making available "higher learning opportunities" for the black people established the college. It was later rebuilt but the name was changed to Bonner-Campbell College.