Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi

Jefferson Davis County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Prentiss
Year Organized: 1906
Square Miles: 408

Court House:

P.O. Box 1137
County Courthouse
Prentiss, MS 39474-1137

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Jefferson Davis is named for CSA president Jefferson Davis

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Jefferson Davis County was authorized by legislative act of March 31, 1906 (approved May 9th). It was taken from the territory of Covington and Lawrence counties and was named in honor of Jefferson Davis, the State being anxious to have a county named in honor of the President of the Southern Confederacy.

At a special election held in April, 1906, the county seat was located at Prentiss, in the central part of the county, and named for Sargent Smith Prentiss, the gifted Mississippi orator, thus linking together the names of two of Mississippi’s most illustrious citizens.

Prentiss, the county seat, was established on March 3, 1903. It was formerly known as Blountville which was named after William Blount, an early settler and merchant. At a special election held in April of 1906, the county seat was located at Prentiss, in the central part of the county. The exact origin of the town name is uncertain but believed to be named after either Prentiss Webb Berry or S. S. Prentiss.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 409 square miles (1,060 km²), of which, 408 square miles (1,058 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Simpson County (north)
Covington County (east)
Lamar County (southeast)
Adams County (south)
Lawrence County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Bassfield	town	Incorporated Area
- Prentiss (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."