A brief history of Mississippi counties

Mississippi became a state of the United States of America on December 10, 1817.

The U.S. state of Mississippi is divided into 82 counties. Adams County and Pickering County were the first counties created on April 2, 1799, and the last county to be formed was Humphreys County on March 28, 1918.

Today’s Mississippi counties did not always exist in the present form. They went through many different changes in the space of a few short years. Mississippi Counties were first formed while part of the Mississippi Territory, and after that the organized State of Mississippi.

Prior to 1799, the region sat divided under European imperial jurisdictions, primarily originating from the historic French and Spanish Natchez District and the British Mobile District.

The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from lands surrendered by Spain in the Treaty of San Lorenzo. The original territorial boundaries included most of present-day Mississippi and Alabama, eventually extending north to the Tennessee border.

There were originally 2 Mississippi counties when it was first organized as the Mississippi Territory, they were Adams and Pickering Counties.

The State of Mississippi entered the union as the 20th state on December 10, 1817.

Former counties and history

  • Colfax County Created on April 4, 1871, during the Reconstruction era from parts of Chickasaw, Lowndes, Monroe, and Oktibbeha counties. It was named for Schuyler Colfax, the sitting Vice President of the United States under Ulysses S. Grant. Following the end of Reconstruction and the return of conservative white Democratic control to the state legislature, lawmakers moved to strip the Radical Republican’s name from the map, renaming the area Clay County in 1876 to honor the famous Whig statesman Henry Clay.
  • Pearl County Created on February 21, 1872, by the state legislature out of the northern portion of Hancock County. It was named after the Pearl River, which forms the western border of the region. Due to a severely sparse local population and an inability to collect enough tax revenue to maintain a functioning local government, the county was officially dissolved in 1878, and its lands reverted back to Hancock and Marion counties. The geographic area was later re-established under the name Pearl River County in 1890.
  • Pickering County Created on April 2, 1799, as one of the two original counties established by territorial governor Winthrop Sargent out of the old Natchez District. It was named in honor of Timothy Pickering, the sitting U.S. Secretary of State. In 1802, following a political shift that ousted Federalists from power, the territorial assembly passed a bill changing the name to Jefferson County to honor President Thomas Jefferson.
  • Sumner County Created on April 6, 1874, from portions of Chickasaw, Choctaw, Montgomery, and Oktibbeha counties. It was named for Charles Sumner, the Massachusetts U.S. Senator and fiercely passionate Northern abolitionist who had recently died. The choice of name drew deep resentment from local residents, prompting the Mississippi legislature to officially abolish the name on January 30, 1882, and rename the area Webster County to honor Daniel Webster.

YearLastFirstCountyPageTownship or Other InfoRecord Type
1840PartenGrayItawamba County158No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartenHenryItawamba County158No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartenHenryItawamba County18Fed Pop Schd
1840PartinBarnabasWilkinson County305No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartinBarnabasWilkinson County35Fed Pop Schd
1840PartinJohnMarion County117No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartinJohnMarion County17Fed Pop Schd
1840PartinJohnWilkinson County305No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartinJohnWilkinson County35Fed Pop Schd
1840PartinWilliamScott County203No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartinWilliamScott County23Fed Pop Schd
1840PartinWilliamWilkinson County305No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1840PartinWilliamWilkinson County35Fed Pop Schd
1840StigerPartinMarshall County007Southern DivisionFed Pop Schd
1840StigerPartinMarshall County7Fed Pop Schd
1841PartenGrayItawamba CountyNo Township Listed
1841PartenHenryItawamba CountyNo Township Listed
1841PartinBarnabasWilkinson CountyNo Township Listed
1841PartinJohnMarion CountyNo Township Listed
1841PartinJohnWilkinson CountyNo Township Listed
1841PartinWilliamScott CountyNo Township Listed
1841PartinWilliamWilkinson CountyNo Township Listed
1841StigerPartinMarshall CountySouthern Division
1845PartenGrayItawamba CountyNo Township Listed
1845PartenHenryItawamba CountyNo Township Listed
1845PartinBarnabasWilkinson CountyNo Township Listed
1845PartinJohnMarion CountyNo Township Listed
1845PartinJohnWilkinson CountyNo Township Listed
1845PartinWilliamScott County007No Township Listed
1845PartinWilliamWilkinson County000No Township Listed
1845StigerPartinMarshall CountySouthern Division
1850HaygoodPartinTishomingo County139Southern DivisionFed Pop Schd
1850PartenAmandaYalobusha County437N Of Yallabusha RiverFed Pop Schd
1850PartenCharlesMonroe County100Western DivisionFed Pop Schd
1850PartenCharles T.Clarke County177Beat No 2Fed Pop Schd
1850PartenRobertYalobusha County437N Of Yallabusha RiverFed Pop Schd
1850PartinH.Tishomingo County0664th District N DivisionFed Pop Schd
1850PartinJamesTishomingo County126Southern DivisionFed Pop Schd
1850PartinP. H.Lauderdale County327Southern DistrictFed Pop Schd
1850PartinP. H.Lauderdale County281No Township ListedSlave Schd
1850PartinWilliamItawamba County4067th DistrictFed Pop Schd
1853PartenC. P.Lauderdale County030No Township Listed
1860BurgessParten W.Itawamba County459No Twp ListedSlave Schd
1860BurgessPartinItawamba County280FultonFed Pop Schd
1860BurgessPartinItawamba County475No Twp ListedSlave Schd
1860PartenA. W.Wilkinson County559No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1860PartenJamesJones County694EllisvilleFed Pop Schd
1860PartenJohnWarren County1014VicksburgFed Pop Schd
1860PartenMargaretWilkinson County559No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1860PartenMargaretWilkinson County331No Twp ListedSlave Schd
1860PartenP. H.Lauderdale County228Beat 4Slave Schd
1860PartinA. W.Wilkinson County331No Twp ListedSlave Schd
1860PartinC. P.Clarke County680ShoebootaFed Pop Schd
1860PartinHenry W.Newton County811DecaturFed Pop Schd
1860PartinWilliamWilkinson County529No Township ListedFed Pop Schd
1860PartinWilliamWilkinson County341No Twp ListedSlave Schd
1870BurgessPartenTishomingo County325Twp 5 R 10Fed Pop Schd
1870BurgessPartin W.Lee County439SaltilloFed Pop Schd
1870PartenEllenItawamba County378Twp 9Fed Pop Schd
1870PartenMayAlcorn County289Twp 1 R 6Fed Pop Schd
1870PartinJamesPanola County009Long Creek P.O.Fed Pop Schd
1870PartinJohnDe Soto County408Twp 6 R 8Fed Pop Schd
1870PartinOrinWilkinson County279Woodville P.O.Fed Pop Schd
1870PartinPatrickLauderdale County152Lockhart P.O.Fed Pop Schd