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== History ==
Historians speculate that Petit Gulf was used as a river crossing point by indigenous Americans, before it came to be known as Petit Gulph, and then Petit Gulf, and finally Rodney.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1981-05-03 |title=Technically, Rodney is not a ghost town by Carl McIntire |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger-technically-rodney-is-no/151336787/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |work=Clarion-Ledger |pages=73}}</ref>
A French traveler described the spot in 1700, "We left the Natchez and coasted along to the right, where the river is bordered with high gravelly banks for a distance of twelve leagues; at the extremity of these bluffs is a place we called Petit Gulf, on account of the whirlpool formed by the river for the distance of a quarter of a league."{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|page=26}} Travelers of 1739 described Petit Gulf's dangerous waters: "Here...we encountered for a quarter of a league extremely violent currents," and three of their eight boats ran aground on a midstream island and had to be rescued "by the efforts of a boatload of negroes which we had dispatched to their assistance."{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|pages=68–69}} A settler of 1774 called it Petit Gouffre and called [[Bayou Pierre (Mississippi)|Bayou Pierre]] the Stony River, recording in his journal "From [[Fort Rosalie]] to Petit Gouffre is ten and a half leagues. There is firm rock on the east side of the Mississippi for near a mile. The land near the river is high, very broken, very rich, and several plantations have been opened. From Petit Gouffre to Stoney river is a league and a half."{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|pages=109}} The landing played a role in the [[Aaron Burr]] conspiracy trial; a soldier testified he saw guns being loaded onto Burr's own boat at Petit Gulf.{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|pages=280}}▼
▲A French traveler described the spot in 1700, "We left the Natchez and coasted along to the right, where the river is bordered with high gravelly banks for a distance of twelve leagues; at the extremity of these bluffs is a place we called Petit Gulf, on account of the whirlpool formed by the river for the distance of a quarter of a league."{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|page=26}} The name Petit Gulph appears on maps as early as 1715.<ref name=":0" /> Travelers of 1739 described Petit Gulf's dangerous waters: "Here...we encountered for a quarter of a league extremely violent currents," and three of their eight boats ran aground on a midstream island and had to be rescued "by the efforts of a boatload of negroes which we had dispatched to their assistance."{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|pages=68–69}} A settler of 1774 called it Petit Gouffre and called [[Bayou Pierre (Mississippi)|Bayou Pierre]] the Stony River, recording in his journal "From [[Fort Rosalie]] to Petit Gouffre is ten and a half leagues. There is firm rock on the east side of the Mississippi for near a mile. The land near the river is high, very broken, very rich, and several plantations have been opened. From Petit Gouffre to Stoney river is a league and a half."{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|pages=109}} The landing played a role in the [[Aaron Burr]] conspiracy trial; a soldier testified he saw guns being loaded onto Burr's own boat at Petit Gulf.{{sfnp|Claiborne|Legrone|1880|pages=280}}
In 1828 Petit Gulf was renamed Rodney by act of the state legislature, and the boundaries of the town were set as a mile square, beginning where Magnolia Street met the Mississippi River.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Local and private laws of the State of Mississippi 1828. |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433003278219?urlappend=%3Bseq=126 |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=HathiTrust |pages=120–121 |language=en}}</ref>
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