Tate

Formed January 1, 1873 (71^st county)

Tate County (28,886), Senatobia (8,353)

The pleasant painted red brick Italian Gothic courthouse was erected in 1875 and enlarged in 1904, 1956, and 1975.  This structure is located at Ward Street and Court Street.  United States Highway 51 is two blocks west of the site.  The building was restored in 2000.  An Office Building was built in 1978.  James Bartholomew Cook is the architect for this facility which features a tower.  Tate County was established on January 1, 1873 from parts of De Soto and Marshall counties as the 71^st county with Senatobia as the only county seat.  The county is named for settler Thomas S. Tate.  The name of the county seat comes from the Native American for “white sycamore.” 

The area of the county is 404 square miles.  It is 80 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 29 out of 82 in population in the state.  Tate County has 34.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 55 travels north to south in the county from De Soto County to Panola County.  United States Highway 51 parallels Interstate Highway 55 from De Soto to Panola counties.  The county is shaped like a wooden shoe.  Senatobia is in the southern third of the county.  Senatobia is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 33.7% of the county population.  It has a density of 71.5 persons per square mile making it 19 out of 82 in the state. 

Tate 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 Tate, DeSoto, Grenada, Montgomery, Panola, and Yalobusha counties, Four District Court Judges serve Tate, DeSoto, Panola, Tallahatchie, and Yalobusha counties and a court clerk serves Tate County (judicial.) Tate County is in the northern part of the state.  Memphis, Tennessee is north and Jackson, Mississippi is south of the county.  The county center is 1.6 miles North-Northeast of Senatobia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by De Soto, Marshall, Lafayette, Panola, and Tunica counties.  The county seat is pronounced SE-NA-TOE-BEE-A.  This county is in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area.