Canton was the birhplace of George Doherty (1920-1987), a football player for the Buffalo Bills in 1947, who later coached at the high school and college levels in Louisiana, and John McCrady (1911–1968), a notable artist.
Canton is also the birthplace of L.C. Greenwood (1946- ). Greenwood was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 10th-round draft choice in 1969 and for 12 seasons, Greenwood was the Steelers' starting defensive left end. Greenwood started in six AFC championship games and in Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, and XIV.
Founded in Canton, the Canton Spirituals have remained one of the best gospel music quartets in the country. The original members included singer/songwriter, Harvey Watkins, Sr. (who started singing and also founded The Canton Spirituals at the age of fourteen), Eddie Jackson, Theo Thompson, and Roscoe Lucious (Mississippi Almanac 1997-1998).
The current lead singer of the Canton Spirituals is Harvey Watkins, Jr. Current members include: Victor Allen, Ralph Loften, Merlin Lucious, Rufus Mapp, Michael Richardson, Wallace Strickland, and Cornelius Dwayne Watkins. Harvey Watkins Sr. was the only original member with the Canton Spirituals until his death in 1994.
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,911 people, 4,093 households, and 2,991 families residing in the city. The population density was 694.1 people per square mile (268.0/km²). There were 4,333 housing units at an average density of 232.9/sq mi (89.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 18.64% White, 80.30% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.43% of the population.
There were 4,093 households out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.4% were married couples living together, 34.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.55.
In the city the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,237, and the median income for a family was $27,782. Males had a median income of $25,179 versus $20,815 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,643. About 27.7% of families and 34.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.8% of those under age 18 and 25.5% of those age 65 or over.