Marshall County, Mississippi

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

County Seat: Holly Springs
Year Organized: 1836
Square Miles: 706

Court House:

P.O. Box 219
County Courthouse
Holly Springs, MS 38635-0219

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Marshall is named for Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Marshall County was established February 9, 1836, the year in which the Chickasaw session of 1832 was divided by the commonwealth into political organizations. It was named for Chief Justice John Marshall and formerly included within its area a considerable portion of Benton, Tate, and several other counties. The act creating the county defined its limits as follows:

"Beginning at the point where the line of the basis meridian intersects the northern boundary line of the State, and running thence south with the said basis meridian line, to the center, of township 6; thence west through the center of township 6, according to the sectional lines, to the center of range 5 west; thence north through the center of range 5 west, according to the sectional lines, to the northern boundary line of the State, and thence east with the said boundary line, to the beginning."

Its original area was about 23 townships or 828 square miles. In 1870 it gave up part of its territory on the east to Benton County, and in 1873 it gave up another portion of its area to assist in the formation of Tate County, and received in lieu of the portion surrendered to Tate, all that portion of De Soto County lying within townships 1 and 2, R. 5 west.

Marshall County received its full share of settlers during the early rush of emigration into the newly opened Chickasaw cession. By the year 1840, it had a population of about 17,500, and by the year 1850 the population was 29,089. Among these were many prominent families and wealthy planters.

Three of the earliest settlements were at Tallaloosa, located about 8 miles southwest of Holly Springs, on the Pigeon Roost Creek, Waterford, one mile west of the station of the same name on the Illinois Central railroad, and the place of muster for the militia of that part of the State; and Hudsonville, about 4 miles southwest of old Lamar, on the stage road from Lagrange, Tennessee, to Holly Springs, Mississippi. All three places are now practically extinct. Its chief town and county seat is Holly Springs, the "City of Flowers".

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 710 square miles (1,838 km²), of which, 706 square miles (1,829 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (9 km²) of it (0.49%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Fayette County, Tennessee (north)
Benton County (east)
Union County (southeast)
Lafayette County (south)
Tate County (southwest)
DeSoto County (west)
Shelby County, Tennessee (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Byhalia	town	Incorporated Area
- Holly Springs (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Potts Camp	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

Online High Schools