Starkville Community Our History Starkville, originally founded as "Boardtown" in the early 1830's, was in 1835 named in honor of General John Stark, a hero of the American Revolutionary War. The name "Boardtown" is still often heard in Starkville today. Several businesses still use it in their names. It was originally used as a name for the settlement (present day Starkville) with a lumber mill that produced clapboards. Those same boards were used in the town's first homes and structures. If that mill were here today, it might be producing materials used in the state's largest university, Mississippi State University. MSU is not only the region's largest employer, its presence dominates most economic and real estate growth and is the fabric that binds our town together. Starkville is truly a college town. Almost every social club, business organization and government committee makes allowances for a balance between "town and gown," or city and college. This important line of communications, and cooperation, is one of the many factors in the growth of Starkville, Oktibbeha County and MSU. It has especially impacted Starkville's real estate, property and land values. We hope you are one of the lucky ones that will soon, or already, make Starkville home. Recreation "There's nothing to do here!" How often do you think, or hear, that about where you live? Here, in no particular order and not a complete list, are activities, places of interest, events that we enjoyed in the Starkville area the past year: Our new Sportsplex, six city parks (swimming, soccer, tennis, racquetball, baseball, softball), Starkville Community Theater, Super Bulldog Weekend, Southeastern Conference sports of every kind, Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge (waterfowl refuge, nature trails and a bird sanctuary), Oktibbeha County Lake, Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, nationally acclaimed Old Waverly Golf Club (site of the 1999 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship) and many other private and public courses open all year, MSU Golf Course (home to one of the few Pro Golf Management programs in the country), hunting, fishing, MSU's Lyceum and Lectern Series, boating, paintball, skiing, MSU campus tennis courts, several museums and cinemas, bowling, camping, Mississippi Horse Park, Agricenter, & Fairgrounds, Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, The Joe Frank Sanderson Student Recreation Center, Oktibbeha County Hospital's Healthplex. Education: "With almost 42 percent of Starkville residents holding a bachelor's degree or Mississippi State University Starkville School District Starkville High School Starkville Academy Starkville Chamber of Commerce East Mississippi Community College higher, it is evident that excellence in education is important to this community, and the Starkville public school system has a long history of excellence," Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority's Web site, September 2001. The educational opportunities for Starkville residents are unequaled by any other Mississippi county or town. In fact, Starkville's schools have received national recognition in many areas. For more information, please use the hyperlinks above or visit the individual school, school district or Chamber for an overview of all schools. Starkville Facts & Figures Population: 21,868 Hospital Beds: 96 Physicians: 35 Average Home Cost: $136,000 Average new home cost (2,000 sq. ft. brick home with one-half acre lot): $180,000 Tax on $100,000 home with Homestead Exemption: Under Age 65-$987 65 years or older-$491 Places of Worship: 80 Denominations present: 14 Commercial passenger air service available at Golden Triangle Regional Airport (14 miles east). Real Estate Market: For current information about building activity, and the real estate market in Starkville, please see The Real Estate Market on this web site. See "Starkville Area Maps" for steet maps of Starkville's most popular neighborhoods and subdivisions. Contacts: The Starkville Chamber of Commerce maintains an excellent web page of Important Telephone Numbers for services, utilities, education and many government offices. The City of Starkville maintains a City Directory of telephone numbers of all city offices including emergency numbers.