Canton, is located in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,911 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of the metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson.
Much of Canton is on the National Register of Historic Places. The courthouse square is a beautiful historic shopping district and host to the Canton Flea Market. The East side of town is a large part of the historic district with many historic homes and a few bed and breakfasts.
Trivia
Although not a major battle site during the Civil War, Canton was important as a rail and logistics center. Many wounded soldiers were treated in or transported through the city, and as a consequence it has a large Confederate cemetery.
Canton was intermittently the adult home of slide guitarist and blues singer Elmore James, who was born and grew up about 20 miles north in Richland and nearby plantation communities. Modern slide guitarist Sonny Landreth was born in Canton but moved to Louisiana as a child.
The 1996 motion picture A Time to Kill, based on a novel of the same title by John Grisham, was filmed in Canton. The city was also the filming location for another motion picture released in 2000 - My Dog Skip, based on the memoir by Mississippi native Willie Morris. Artifacts from the filming of both movies were donated to the city, and today are maintained in exhibits in the downtown area. Scenes from the 2000 Coen Brothers' film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? were also filmed in Canton.
The city is home to a large auto manufacturing facility owned by Nissan.
Canton, like a similarly-named city in Texas, is home to an extensive flea market event. With more than 1,100 vendors around the Madison County Courthouse square and other locations, the market has become one of the city's largest events held each May and October.
Anne Moody, famed author and civil rights activist, wrote about her experiences in Canton in her book, Coming of Age in Mississippi where she worked for CORE.
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