Amite County, Mississippi

Amite County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Liberty
Year Organized: 1809
Square Miles: 730

Court House:

P.O. Box 680
County Courthouse
Liberty, MS 39645-0680

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Amite is based on the Latin language word amicus (friend) or amare (to love), via the French language; the French named the Amite River in honor the friendly local Native Americans.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

While Mississippi was still a territory, Amite County was organized, February 24, 1809. Its name is derived from the Amite River, the two branches of which water its soil, and that stream was thus designated by the French in commemoration of their friendly treatment by the Indians. Amite was originally organized from Wilkinson County, and in 1870 a part was taken from it and attached to Lincoln County.

The old boundary line, as established by the Choctaw treaty of 1801, runs a few miles west of its original eastern boundary line. At the time of its establishment, it contained a population of about 1,500. Subsequently, from its eastern area were formed the counties of Pike, Marion, Perry, Greene and Lamar. The county seat is Liberty; which was incorporated in 1828.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 732 square miles (1,895 km²), of which, 730 square miles (1,890 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.28%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Franklin County (north)
Lincoln County (northeast)
Pike County (east)
Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana (southeast)
St. Helena Parish, Louisiana (south)
East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana (southwest)
Wilkinson County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Crosby	town	Incorporated Area
- Gloster	town	Incorporated Area
- Liberty (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."