Founded in 1829 as the seat of Hinds County, Raymond began to lose political prominence in 1869 when the legislature created a second seat in Jackson. The tiny square originally held a courthouse, but today it only boasts a water tower (1905, Chicago Bridge and Iron Company) and functions more as a traffic circle. Facing it are one- and two-story brick commercial buildings including the c. 1830 former chancery clerk’s office (now Keith Press Building; 234 Clinton Raymond Road). Early houses on the edge of town include Waverly (630 Clinton Street), an interesting false-front Federal style house built by John Peyton between 1831 and 1834, and the Shelton House (561 W. Main Street), a long galleried cottage built as a dogtrot in the 1830s and expanded and enclosed by the 1870s.
The Battle of Raymond, fought on May 12, 1863, proved pivotal in General Ulysses S. Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign as Union forces defeated a Confederate brigade under Brigadier General John Gregg and moved north to take Jackson and the Southern Railroad. About 140 Confederate dead were buried in a special section of the Raymond Cemetery (409 Port Gibson Street), protected by an ornate iron fence placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy around 1910 (Union dead were placed in temporary graves then later disinterred and sent home). Raymond’s population, historically around 1,000, has grown to more than 2,000 as development has spread from Jackson.
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