Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Clarksdale had a population of 14,903. It is located along the Sunflower River and named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he established a timber mill and business. Clarksdale is in the Mississippi Delta region and is an agricultural and trading center. Many African American musicians developed the blues here and took this original American music with them to Chicago and other northern cities during the Great Migration.