Choctaw County, Mississippi

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

County Seat: Ackerman
Year Organized: 1833
Square Miles: 419

Court House:

P.O. Box 250
County Courthouse
Ackerman, MS 39735-0250

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Choctaw is named for the Choctaw Native American people.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Choctaw County was organized on December 23, 1833. The name comes from the Indian word Chahta, which according to the best authorities means "separation," referring to the separation of the Choctaws from the Chickasaws.

Choctaw County was carved from the territory ceded by the Choctaw nation under the treaty of Dancing Rabbit in 1830. Originally, its territory was almost square in shape, and more than twice as large as at present. In 1870, parts of Choctaw were taken to form Grenada, and were added to Montgomery and Webster in 1871 and 1874. In the latter year part of Winston was annexed to Choctaw County.

The first county seat was at Greensboro, now in Webster County. When Montgomery County was formed from part of Choctaw, in 1871, it was found expedient to move the seat of justice to a more central location. La Grange was accordingly chosen and a new court house built there in 1872. G.W. Gunter donated 40 acres of land on which the town was built. It was situated in the northern part of the county, about two miles south of the Big Black River. In the early part of 1874, the court house was burned—it was believed by incendiaries who wished to have the county divided in order to create a Republican county out of part of it. All the county records were destroyed. The Republican majority in the legislature again divided the county in 1874, to form the present county of Webster, first called Sumner.

The seat of justice for Choctaw was then moved to the present site of Chester, near the center of the county. Soon after this La Grange was abandoned and only a postoffice remains. Courts are also held at the important town of Ackerman, which is now the county seat.

Record loss, 1888. Chester was the first county seat, but suffered several fires last one in 1874. No records from that period extant.

Geography

Neighboring Counties:

Webster County, Mississippi - north
Oktibbeha County, Mississippi - east
Winston County, Mississippi - southeast
Attala County, Mississippi - southwest
Montgomery County, Mississippi - west

Cities and Towns:

- Ackerman (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- French Camp	town	Incorporated Area
- Weir	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."