I Found The USA's Poorest Town: ALLIGATOR, MISSISSIPPI - Also, I Toured Helena, AR (A Mini Gary, IN)

Sadly I used to live in Alligator, MS. My family roots are from there. Those abandoned buildings downtown used to be stores. There were 2or 3 clubs (what we call "hole in a wall" or "juke joints") Even a gas station/plaza with a liquor store & pool hall called BRUNO'S on the main Hwy 61. The town used to be packed with ppl walking around town, children riding bikes & 4wheelers, families gathered in their yards BBQn, playing music, spades, and dominoes. Everyone was damn near related. Everybody knew everybody! Now, all of the store owners are dead. Everybody grew up & moved away to pursue better lives. As they should! Many are successful. Every year we have a TOWN'S REUNION. That's the ONLY time Alligator is packed with people. Most of them come back to visit. Some don't look back. There are good memories in this town. Now its a Ghost Town. See ya later Alligator 👋🐊❤

My husband is from Alligator, and I’m from down the road. Let me tell you about Mississippi folks: They don’t have money, but they are some of the richest people you will ever meet. The strong love for family and community they have is worth its weight in gold.

I am a hospice nurse who works a lot on the Mississippi Delta. One of the main reasons for the low median age is the very shortened life expectancy due to poverty and lack of access to quality healthcare.

I grew up in Helena and still have family there. It breaks my heart to see how it has gone down. Helena was a beautiful, thriving city with big, beautiful historic homes. My dream is to help rebuild the city one day. 🙏🏾

It amazes me that we have so many homeless people sleeping on the streets yet there are so many abandoned houses everywhere.

Love from India Will never stop being amazed by the open stretches of land and rarely seeing persons moving around My country you can rarely go any place that doesn't have 10 ppl hanging around lol What a freaking vast streach of land your country is ! Blessed ppl you are !

Just a correction to how the town got its name. There are actually very few alligators in the lake we use to swim in almost daily. In fact, only about 4-5 gators have been seen in or near the town since I started visiting my grandparents in 1979 and actually moved there in 1983. It’s named Alligator because from an aerial view, the long and winding lake is shaped like an Alligator. I still have an aerial photo on the wall in my Alligator home from the 1960’s, showing the whole lake and town. And regardless of what statistics say, the most valuable home their right now, according to true market value (and not the number that the owner puts on it) is less than $200K

im a retired nurse but i still work part time for a company that requires us to drive to all kinds of areas to see patients/ clients. i prefer these sweet little towns that are just a remnant of a former thriving area. there is such a difference in the people from big towns like dallas to small towns with 400 + people in them. so many homes are dilapidated and no way to actually repair due to lack of finances. but the people seem to be kinder, more laid back, happier and hold God at the top of thier world.. ill drive by sad for the state of the houses.. and my mind thinking.. if i ever win the lotto im coming back and fixing up these houses for folks... worry that they may be hungry or cold or too warm or whatever.. but they always smile and greet you like you are somebody.. yes. there are jewels that have fallen and tarnished..but the overall feeling i feel is just love for them...

I myself have lived in 10,000 a year! And I was working 5 days a week!!! I thought I was actually doing well for my situation! I was a single Mom ! I knew we weren't living high, but we had food, a place to live, and clothes and shoes on our feet, and Hope for tomorrow!!!😊😊😊😊😊

A lot of what is seen in this video, and others like it, is the result of the shift from small family farm agriculture to massive corporate agribusiness operations employing only a fraction of the people. The little towns all over the south and mid west that used to service the needs of the farming community have just dried up and blown away. Now we have cheap food and thousands of ghost towns.

My step-dad (deceased) was from Friars Point, only 8th grade education, but one of most brilliant, creative, & wise people I've ever known. Carl Douglas Christian was a real genius, & those who knew him will never forget him. I was blessed to know him.

At least it’s clean. Looks way better than a lot of other places. 😢🙏🏾

There's no shame in being poor if you're a good and decent person. I've been poor all my adult life because of severe and chronic illness. God bless 🙌 🙏.

It might be poor but it is clean. The street verges and vacant land appears mowed and cared for. From that I glean it is an honorable community doing it tough, but with dignity.

That low crime rate just goes to show that poverty isn’t the motivation for crime. You raise your kids right and teach them to respect others, and you can be a dirt poor single mom, and still have kids that stay out of trouble. Good for that town for raising good kids.

It's funny how Alligator Mississippi is labeled as the poorest town but it is cleaner than most hoods in these popular urban cities....and 34% of folks are married.

Imagine being a teenager growing up there. Poverty, no shops and alligator infested lake. As a UK citizen I find your videos fascinating but it would be cool to see you chat with the locals.

Amazing to see such small towns in this country that are still barely hanging on . Eye opening. Thanks for the insight.

My Dad was a minister which for us meant living in the south and traveling to some of the towns you video, during my youth in the 60's. As everyone from these places comments, they were different and thriving places with family and job connections that gave life to the town itself. Your videos chronicle the ebb and flow of fortune and circumstance, display the role of poverty and wealth while also demonstrating the capacity of humans to exist in all kinds of circumstances.

My grandmother was born in Alligator, Mississippi in 1905. This is the closest I will get to where she's from.