Formed February 9, 1836 (56th county)
Tunica County (9,777), Tunica (1,028)
The brown brick Classical Revival structure looks like a large house and was built in 1922. It is on School Street between North Court and South Court streets. Mississippi Highway 4 passes one block north of the facility. A large magnolia tree dominates the grounds. Frank P. Gates designed the courthouse. A County Administration building was added in 2003. The county was formed on February 9, 1836 from parts of Washington County and Native American Territory as the 56th county. The county and county seat are named for the Native American tribe. Commerce (1836), Austin (1847), and Tunica (1888) have all been the county seat.
The area of the county is 455 square miles. It is 60 out of 82 in the state. It ranks 71 out of 82 in population in the state. It has a density of 21.5 persons per square mile making it 66 out of 82 in the state. Tunica County has 10.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 61 passes north to south in the county from De Soto County to Coahoma County. The county looks like a fire pit lying on its side. The City of Tunica is in the northern half of the county. Tunica is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 10.5% of the county population.
Tunica County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors. Three Chancery Court Judges serve Tunica, Bolivar, Coahoma, LeFlore, Quitman, and Tallahatchie counties and Three District Court Judges serve Tunica, Bolivar, Coahoma, and Quitman counties. The county is in the northwest part of the state on the Mississippi River border with Arkansas. Memphis, Tennessee is northeast and Jackson, Mississippi is southeast of the county. The county center is 1.5 miles Southeast of Tunica. The county is surrounded clockwise by Arkansas and De Soto, Tate, Panola, Quitman, and Coahoma counties. The county and county seat are pronounced TUE-NI-KA. This county is in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Tunica
