HOLLY SPRINGS

city, seat (1836) of Marshall county, northern Mississippi, U.S. It lies 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Memphis, Tenn. Holly Springs was founded in 1835 by William S. Randolph of Virginia at the site of a spring encircled by holly trees. Its fine antebellum homes reflect the prosperity of the cotton era. During the American Civil War (186165) more than 60 skirmishes were fought there, including a raid by Confederate General E. Van Dorn, who destroyed a Union supply depot and delayed the Union drive to Vicksburg. A yellow-fever epidemic in 1878 killed more than 300 residents. Holly Springs is now the trade centre for a farming and dairying area and a shipping terminal for clay, cotton, and dairy products. It is the seat of Rust College (1866). Its Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery houses more than 1,000 paintings by that artist, who was a native of the city. Holly Springs National Forest and Wall Doxey State Park are nearby. Inc. 1837. Pop. (1990) 7,261.