LOCATION AND HISTORY
LOCATION
Calhoun County is located in north central Mississippi where it lies within the paralles of 30 degrees 45' and 34 degrees 10' north latitude and the Meridians 189 degrees 10' and 89 degrees 39' west longitude. Calhoun County is an irregular, rectangular area of 378,880 acres of approximately 592 square mile, having a maximum east-west extent of 21 miles and maximum north-south extent of about 30 miles. The county is bounded on the north by Lafayette and Pontotoc Counties, and on the east by Pontotoc, Chickasaw , and Webster Counties, on the south by Chickasaw and Webster Counties, and on the west by Grenada and Yalobusha Counties.
Calhoun City is located 117 miles south of Memphis , Tn. and 149 miles north of Jackson, MS.. In an east-west direction, it is located 188 miles west of Birmingham, Alabama and 450 miles east of Dallas , Texas.
HISTORY
On April 26, 1541, Juan
deAnasco, Lieutenat for Hernando DeSoto, was possibly the first white man to set
foot in Calhoun County. This information has been documented by Dr. John
R. Swanton of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.. Dr. Swanson is
a recognized authority of Southern Indians. All over the nation his
tracings of Hernando Desoto's route are accepted as correct.
The first white settlers came to this
area in the early 1830's to inhabit what is now Calhoun County, by the way of
the famous old Natchez Trace. They traveled from Tennessee and Carolina,
crossing the Tennessee River near Corinth, Mississippi and spread out over a
section to the west, along various creeks which ran into Skuna and the Yalobusha
River.
Calhoun County was finally created
from territory taken from Chickasaw County on the east and Yalobusha County on
the west. A two mile strip across the Yalobusha line was taken and one
township from Lafayette County in order to reach the 576 square mile
minimum demanded by the constitution at the time to form a new
County.
The Mississippi Legislature
established Calhoun County on March 8, 1852. Calhoun City was chartered in 1906
and is named in honor of Honorable John C. Calhoun, distinguished lawyer,
statesman, and Vice-President of the United States of America.