Gillsburg, Mississippi

Gillsburg is an unincorporated community in Amite County, Mississippi. The community is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Gillsburg was the location of the October 20, 1977 plane crash that killed several members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. A rental plane carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was low on fuel and crashed in a swamp in Gillsburg.^[1] The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray. The other band members were seriously injured in the crash.

Gillsburg was home to the Wall family, one of the last black families to be held in peonage in the United States.^[2]

Coordinates: 31°01′31″N 90°39′21″W / 31.02528°N 90.65583°W / 31.02528; -90.65583

Municipalities and communities of Amite County, Mississippi, United States

County seat: Liberty

Towns	Centreville ‡ Crosby ‡ Gloster Liberty

Unincorporated communities	Coles Gillsburg Homochitto Smithdale

Ghost town	Elysian Fields

Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

References

↑ Check-Six.com - The 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Crash
↑ Meadows, Bob (26 March 2007). "The Last Slaves of Mississippi?". People (Time Inc.) 67 (12). Retrieved 14 March 2013.

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