Gavin de Gruiter
October 16, 2022
Figure 1. Police Stations in Lamar County. lamar county ms - Census Bureau Maps.
Figure 2. School Districts in Lamar County. LCSD School Zones - Lamar County School District (lamarcountyschools.org).
Figure 3. Lamar County Voting Precincts. map_voting_precincts.pdf (lamarcountyms.gov).
Figure 4. Incorporated Communities in Lamar County. Map of Lamar County Mississippi (hometownlocator.com).
Figure 5. Lamar County Zip Codes. Lamar County - Mississippi Zip Code Boundary Map (MS) (zipmap.net).
There are many different ways to organize spatial areas. The maps above show organization by beats, school districts, voting districts, incorporated communities, and zip codes.
Police beats are the areas where police are assigned to. Figure One shows where the three police stations are in Lamar County. There is one in Sumrall, one in Purvis, and one in Lumberton. In the northeast corner of the county, there is the Oak Grove/West Hattiesburg area. This area does not have a police station in Lamar County, but the Hattiesburg police will patrol this area. The Highway Patrol, which has a station in Hattiesburg, will also patrol areas of Lamar County. There are three police beats, one in the northern part of the county (Sumrall), one in the center of the county (Purvis), and one in the Southern part (Lumberton).
Figure Two shows the school districts in Lamar County. There are five major school districts: Sumrall, Oak Grove, Purvis, Lumberton, and Baxterville. Sumrall is in the north. Oak Grove's school district is more complicated. There are technically three districts for Oak Grove. There are three different elementary schools for Oak Grove: Oak Grove Elementary, Bellevue Elementary, and Longleaf Elementary. After fifth grade, the students of all three elementaries all go to Oak Grove Middle and High schools. Purvis is south of Oak Grove. Lumberton is south of Purvis. Baxterville is west of Purvis. Baxterville has a small population, so it only has an elementary and middle school. After middle school, Baxterville students go to Purvis High School.
Figure Three shows the voting precincts in Lamar County. There are twenty-three different voting precincts. Voting precincts are supposed to have equal population (as close as possible), and this is shown through the different sizes and their locations. The rural precincts are larger and make up most of the area of the county. The most populated area is the Oak Grove/Hattiesburg area in the northeast corner of the county. This is where the precincts are smaller, but this area has more precincts than all the rural parts combined.
Many precincts have odd shapes, this is due to trying to find an equal population and to gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is done by the political parties to try to divide the precincts to their advantage to more easily win elections.
Figure Four shows the incorporated communities in Lamar County. Incorporated communities are towns or cities with local governments. The towns in Lamar County are Sumrall, Purvis, and Lumberton. The city of Hattiesburg also is partly located in Lamar County (West Hattiesburg). These towns have things like town halls, elected officials, and as shown in figure one, they are the three towns with the police stations. There are a few unincorporated communities, which are areas that are not towns. Oak Grove, Bellevue, Oloh, and Baxterville are unincorporated communities. West Hattiesburg is also an unincorporated community. Hattiesburg is an incorporated community, but West Hattiesburg is located in a different county as Hattiesburg, which is located in Forrest County (East of Lamar County).
Figure Five shows the zip codes in Lamar County. Zip Codes are used by the postal service, and they organize the country so the postal services can more efficiently mail the mail. Lamar County has four major zip codes, and just a small part of the fifth zip code. The first major zip code, 39482, is in the areas of Sumrall, Oloh, and Bellevue. The zip code 39402 is in the northeast part of the county. These are the areas of Oak Grove, West Hattiesburg, and the eastern part of Sumrall. The third zip code is 39475. This zip code is in the Purvis area. The last major zip code is 39455. This is in the Lumberton and Baxterville areas. The minor zip code in the middle part of the western county line is 39429. This zip code covers a very small area in Lamar County, and it is mostly located in the county west of Lamar County (Marion County).
These five figures show some of the many different ways that a county or area can be spatially organized.
Hometown Locator. Map of Lamar County Mississippi (hometownlocator.com). Accessed October 16, 2022.
Lamar County School District. LCSD School Zones - Lamar County School District (lamarcountyschools.org). Accessed October 16, 2022.
Lamar County Voting Precincts. map_voting_precincts.pdf (lamarcountyms.gov). Accessed October 16, 2022.
Lamar County - Mississippi Zip Code Boundary Map (MS) (zipmap.net). Accessed October 16, 2022.
Police Departments - Lamar County, MS (Arrest Records & Police Logs) (countyoffice.org). Accessed October 16, 2022.
United States Census Bureau. lamar county ms - Census Bureau Maps. Accessed October 16, 2022.
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