Neshoba County, Mississippi

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

County Seat: Philadelphia
Year Organized: 1833
Square Miles: 570

Court House:

401 Beacon Street
County Courthouse Ste- 107
Philadelphia, MS 39350-2954

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Neshoba is a Native American word meaning grey wolf.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Neshoba County was formed December 23, 1833, from the territory ceded by the Choctaw nation three years earlier, and a desirable class of emigrants from the older states and the other parts of Mississippi came into the region at an early day. It has a rich Indian history. The name “Neshoba” is an Indian word meaning “grey wolf.” The county is in the form of a square, containing sixteen townships. On February 5, 1836, land was taken from it to form the present county of Newton.

The county seat is Philadelphia located near the center of the county. Clerk of Chancery Court has divorce records, probate records from mid 1850's (somewhat scattered); Clerk of Circuit Court has marriage records from the 1830s through the present (though some were damaged by fires), and Land Records from 1836. The Philadelphia Public Library has mortgage books and miscellaneous county records

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 572 square miles (1,481 km²), of which, 570 square miles (1,476 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.29%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Winston County (north)
Kemper County (east)
Newton County (south)
Leake County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Philadelphia (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Union	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."