Carroll

Formed December 31, 1833 (29^th county)

Carroll County (9,995), Carrollton (435), Vaiden (897)                

The masonry and stucco Neo-Classical facility in Carrollton was built in 1878.  The Modern tan brick courthouse in Vaiden was erected in 1989.  The county was organized on December 31, 1833 from parts of Lowndes, Monroe, Washington and Yazoo counties as the 29^th county.  Vaiden had a 1905 courthouse earlier.  The Carrollton courthouse sits on a square at Lexington, Washington, Green, and Jackson streets.  Mississippi State Highway 35 is Lexington Street in the community.  The Carrollton facility features Veterans memorial and an iron fence.  James C. Harris is the Carrollton courthouse architect.  The Carrollton courthouse has been enlarged, renovated in 1979, and restored in 1992.  The Vaiden facility is on Front Street between Mulberry and Magnolia streets.  Front Street is United States Highway 51 in the town.  McRee, Dardaman, and Jones are the Vaiden courthouse architects.  The Vaiden facility has a Liberty-type bell on the grounds.  First, Carrollton in 1833 and then Vaiden in 1873 have always been the county seats for this two-county-seats county.  The county and one of the county seats are named for Charles Carroll signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Vaiden is named for settler. Dr. C. M. Vaiden.  Carroll County was the birthplace for 1 Mississippi Governor, Earl L. Brewer. 

Carroll County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Two Chancery Court Judges serve Carroll, Attala, Choctaw, Kemper, Neshoba, and Winston counties, Two District Court Judges serve Carroll, Attala, Choctaw, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster, and Winston counties and a court clerk serves Carroll County (judicial.) Carroll County is in the central part of the state.  Jackson, Mississippi is southwest and Memphis, Tennessee is northwest of the county.  The county center is 3.6 miles South-Southeast of Carrollton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Grenada, Montgomery, Attala, Holmes, and Le Flore counties. 

The area of the county is 628 square miles.  It is 30 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 68 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 15.9 persons per square mile making it 74 out of 82 in the state.  Carroll County has 17.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 55 travels north to south through the county from Grenada County, out to Montgomery County, back into Carroll County, and out to Holmes County.  United States Highway 51 parallels Interstate Highway 55 from Montgomery to Holmes counties.  United States Highway 82 goes east to west from Montgomery County to Le Flore County.  The county a capital letter L with the bottom slanted.  Carrollton is located in the northern third of the county.  Vaiden is in the southeast corner of the county.  Carrollton is one of the county seats.  Vaiden is the other county seat and the largest city.  Carrollton is 4.4% of the county population while Vaiden is 9.0% of the county population.  The county seat and largest city is pronounced VIE-DEN.  This county is in the Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area.