Claiborne County, Mississippi

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

County Seat: Port Gibson
Year Organized: 1802
Square Miles: 487

Court House:

410 Main Street
PO Box 449
Port Gibson, MS 39150-2000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Claiborne is named for Governor of Mississippi Territory William C. C. Claiborne. William Charles Cole Claiborne (1775 - 23 November 1817) was a United States politician, best known as the first U.S. governor of Louisiana

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Claiborne County was erected while Mississippi was a Territory and was established January 27, 1802, during the administration of William C.C. Claiborne, Mississippi’s second territorial governor. His name is perpetuated in that of the county. The original act of the General Assembly recites that Jefferson County shall be divided as follows:

"Beginning on the river Mississippi at the mouth of Petty Gulph Creek; thence running up the main branch of said creek four miles, or to its source, should not exceed four miles; thence, by a line to be drawn due east, to the eastern territorial line, and all that tract of country, north of the above mentioned creek, an east line, south of the northern boundary of said territory, and east of the Mississippi River, shall compose a county, which shall be called Claiborne."

The act of June 29, 1822, defining the boundaries of the several counties of the State, declared that the dividing line between the counties of Claiborne and Jefferson should be as follows:

"Beginning on the bank of the Mississippi River, at the lower end of the Petit Gulf Hills, running thence a direct course to the most northern part of the tract of land known by the name of Robert Trimble’s, on Tabor’s Creek of Bayou Pierre, continuing the same course until it shall intersect the South Fork of Bayou Pierre, at Elijah L. Clarke’s wagon ford on said creek, thence up said creek to the township line between townships 9 and 10, thence pursuing said line east to the old Choctaw boundary line."

The first civil officers of the county, commissioned January 30, 1802. The County seat is Port Gibson.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 501 square miles (1,299 km²), of which, 487 square miles (1,261 km²) of it is land and 15 square miles (38 km²) of it (2.91%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Warren County (north)
Hinds County (northeast)
Copiah County (southeast)
Jefferson County (south)
Tensas Parish, Louisiana (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Port Gibson (County Seat)

city

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."