Bolivar

Formed February 9, 1836 (44^th county)

Bolivar County (30,973), Cleveland (11,196), Rosedale (1,583)                

The tan brick and masonry Italian Renaissance facility in Cleveland was built in 1923.  The courthouse was enlarged in 1957 and restored in 2015.  It features columns and interior marble walls.  A Neo-Classical building built in 1922 sits in Rosedale.  It features a working external clock and was restored in 1960 and 2012.  There was an 1889 courthouse earlier in Rosedale and a 1901 facility earlier in Cleveland.  The Cleveland facility is located on a square at South Court Street, Pearman Avenue, North Court Street, and Bolivar Avenue.  Mississippi Highway 8 is two blocks north of the site.  The Rosedale courthouse is on Main Street between Bruce and Bradford streets.  Mississippi State Highway 1 is Main Street in the town.  Noah W. Overstreet designed the Cleveland courthouse.  Kramer & Lindsley are the light tan brick and masonry Rosedale architects.  The county was organized on February 9, 1836 from parts of Tallahatchie and Washington counties as the 44^th county.  The county is named for South American hero Simon Bolivar.  Cleveland is named for United States President Grover Cleveland.  Rosedale is named for a local plantation.  Bolivar Landing, Jackson’s Point, Bolivia, Prentiss, and Beulah all served as county seats before Rosedale and Cleveland. 

Bolivar 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.)  Three Chancery Court Judges serve Bolivar, Coahoma, LeFlore, Quitman, Tallahatchie, and Tunica counties, Three District Court Judges serve Bolivar, Coahoma, Quitman, and Tunica counties, and One County Court Judge and a court clerk serve Bolivar County (judicial.) Bolivar County is on the western border with Arkansas.  The Mississippi River forms its western border.  Jackson, Mississippi is southeast and Memphis, Tennessee is northeast of the county.  The county center is 8.9 miles Northwest of Cleveland nearer Symonds.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Coahoma, Sunflower, and Washington counties and Arkansas. 

The area of the county is 876 square miles.  It is 2 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 26 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 35.4 persons per square mile making it 49 out of 82 in the state.  Bolivar County has 67.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highways 61/278 cross the county north to south from Coahoma County to Washington County.  The meandering western border takes away from the scoop shape of this county.  Cleveland is located in the southeast part of the county.  Rosedale is located near the western border.  Cleveland is one of the county seats and the largest city.  Rosedale is the other county seat.  Cleveland is 36.2% of the county population while Rosedale is 5.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced BO-LA-VAR.  This county is in the Cleveland Micropolitan Statistical Area.