Chickasaw

Formed February 9, 1836 (45^th county)

Chickasaw County (17,103), Houston (3,800), Okolona (2,507)

A tan brick Beaux Arts structure was built in Houston in 1909.  A brown brick and masonry Neo-Classical building was constructed in Okolona in 1925 as the Masonic Building.  The Houston building is on a square at Jackson, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison streets.  Mississippi State Highway 15 Business is Jackson Street.  The Okolona facility is on Main Street between Olive and Silver streets.  Mississippi State Highway 41 is three blocks west of the location.  The Houston facility was designed by R. H. Hunt and features a dome.  The Okolona structure’s architect is unknown.  The county was founded on February 9, 1836 from Monroe County and Native American Territory as the 45^th county.  Houston has always been a county seat and was joined by Okolona in 1866 to make this a dual seat county.  The county is named for the Native American tribe.  Houston is named for American statesman Sam Houston.  Okolona is named for a Native American chief. 

Chickasaw County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors.  Three Chancery Court Judges serve Chickasaw, Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, and Webster counties and Three District Court Judges serve Chickasaw, Benton, Calhoun, Lafayette, Marshall, Tippah, and Union counties.  The county is in the northeast part of the state.  Memphis, Tennessee is northwest and Jackson, Mississippi is southwest of the county.  The county center is 4 miles Northeast of Houston.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lee, Monroe, Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Pontotoc counties. 

The area of the county is 502 square miles.  It is 47 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 54 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 34.1 persons per square mile making it 51 out of 82 in the state.  Chickasaw County has 41.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 45 Alternate clips the southeast corner of the county from Monroe County and back into Monroe County.  The county looks like a fat letter J.  Houston is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Okolona is on the eastern border of the county.  Houston is one of the county seats and the largest city.  Okolona is the other county seat.  Houston is 22.2% of the county population while Okolona is 14.7% of the county population.  The county is pronounced CHIK-A-SAW.  The smaller county seat is pronounced OEK-O-LOE-NA.

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