Pike County, Mississippi

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

County Seat: Magnolia
Year Organized: 1815
Square Miles: 409

Court House:

218 East Bay Street, PO Box 431
County Courthouse
Magnolia, MS 39652-2814

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Pike is named for explorer Zebulon Pike. Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. His Pike expedition, often compared to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Pike County was created by act of February 9, 1815, out of a part of Marion County , and its name perpetuates the memory of Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, the explorer. Its limits were defined as follows:

“Beginning on the line of demarcation at the southeast corner of Amite County, running from thence east along said line thirty miles; thence a line to run due north to its intersection with the summit of the dividing ridge between the waters of Bogue Chitto and Pearl River, after the same shall cross the waters of McGee’s Creek, thence along the said ridge until it intersects the southern boundary of Lawrence County; and all that tract of territory lying west and north of the lines thus described, shall form a new county by the name of Pike.”

The southern and western lines have not been changed, but a strip from the northern tier of townships has been added to the counties of Lawrence and Lincoln. Some of its eastern townships went to form the new county of Walthall in 1914.

Before the county was organized, a few permanent settlers were to be found along its rivers and creeks, chiefly in the valley of the Bogue Chitto River.

When the Illinois Central railroad from New Orleans went through the county in 1857, Holmesville was left to the east of it about nine miles and soon began to decline in competition with the new towns which sprang up along the line, such as Osyka, Summit and Magnolia. Not long after this, the courts and county records were by vote removed to Magnolia, the present county seat, and the past glory of the old town could not prevent its decay.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 411 square miles (1,064 km²), of which, 409 square miles (1,059 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Lincoln County (north)
Walthall County (east)
Washington Parish, Louisiana (southeast)
Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana (south)
Amite County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Magnolia (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- McComb	city	Incorporated Area
- Osyka	town	Incorporated Area
- Summit	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."