ATTALA COUNTY
Chapter XLIV, pages 686-688
Attala County was established on the 23d
of December, 1833, and was one of the sixteen counties carved from the
Choctaw cession of 1830. The name is derived from the heroine (Atala) of
an Indian romance written by Chateaubriand. As Attala has the distinction
of retaining its original boundaries, as laid down in 1833, they are quoted,
as follows: "Beginning at the northeast corner of Leake County, and running
thence west with the line between townships, 12 and 13, to the line between
ranges five and six east; thence south with said line between ranges five
and six to the center of township 12, of range 5 east; thence directly
west to the Big Black River; thence up said river to the point at which
the line between 16 and 17 crosses said river; thence east with the line
between nine and ten east; thence south to the place of beginning." The
Choctaw boundary line of 1820 (treaty of Doak’s Stand) runs through the
extreme southwestern corner of the county.
Attala County is located a little north
of the geographical center of the State, and is bounded on the north by
Montgomery and Choctaw counties, on the east by Choctaw and Winston counties,
on the south by Leake and Madison counties, while the Black River forms
its western boundary and divides it from Holmes County. The county has
an undulating surface of 715 square miles.
Kosciusko is the largest town and the county
seat of Attala County. It is a substantial incorporated city of nearly
2,500 people, on the Aberdeen branch of the Illinois Central Railroad.
It has excellent public schools and a number of fine churches and growing
industries.
The general face of the country is undulating
and rises in places into considerable hills, while scattered throughout
the county are extensive areas of level river and creek bottoms. Besides
the Big Black River which forms the western boundary of the county, the
more important streams are the river Yockanookany, which rises in Choctaw
County and is the longest branch of Pearl River, and Long, Apookta, Shakeys,
Lobutcha, Seneasha and Zilpha creeks. There are numerous excellent springs
found throughout the county including several chalybeate and sulphur springs
and one large spring five miles south of Kosciusko, which is said to have
been formed by the earthquake in 1811. The soil, very fertile in the bottoms,
and moderately rich in the uplands, yielded products in 1919 in excess
of $3,888,814, composed of corn, cotton, oats, wheat, potatoes, peas, peanuts,
sorghum and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The live stock industry,
once neglected, is growing rapidly, owing to the excellent shipping facilities
now afforded and the excellent grass lands of the county. A few miles north
of Kosciusko a bed of oyster shells ten feet thick was found and there
are many fine beds of marl in the county, which should yield an abundance
of fertilizing material. The timber found in the county is that common
to central Mississippi and still contributes largely to the wealth of its
people.
As a rule, the early settlers of the county
came of good stock, coming chiefly from the Carolinas, Tennessee, the western
states on the Ohio, and Georgia and Alabama. Attalaville, Valena, Burkettsville,
and Bluff Springs are among the oldest settlements in the county, but all
four places are now extinct. Attalaville was founded by Silas H. Clark.
His two brothers Robert L. and Simon S. Clark also dwelt here. The first
sawmi11 in Attala County was built at Valena. Burkett Thompson, G.W. Galloway
and Doctor Cook were among the leading pioneer residents. Bluff Springs
was the home of Mangus S. Teague and Colonel Coffee, prominent and wealthy
merchants, in the days of its prosperity. The steady pressure of the whites
gradually forced out the native Indians and as early as 1837 Attala County
had a population of 1,713 whites and 708 slaves, with over 4,000 acres
of land under cultivation.
The population of the county is almost
exclusively agricultural, and aside from Kosciusko there are no large towns
within its bounds; otherwise the larger centers of population are McCool,
Zama Town, Sallis, and Ethel, all along the line of the Illinois Central
which branches from the trunk and runs through the county from southwest
to northeast. The social conditions of the county are good and it is well
supplied with schools and churches.
Attala County increased steadily in population
for about sixty years from 1850, as indicated by the national census. In
the year named, the population was 10,999; in 1870, 14,776; in 1890, 22,213;
in 1910, 28,851. The census for 1920, which gives the population at 24,831,
shows a decrease of almost 4,000.
The Federal census for 1920 gives a definite
idea of the present status of agriculture in Attala County. There are more
than 4,000 farmers in the county and of the total number over 2,400 are
white. The value of its farm property was $9,049,000; $6,373,000 in 1910,
and only $2,933,000 in 1900. The total value of all the crops raised in
the county was $3,888,000. As to cotton, 31,000 acres represented its area
and 8,000 bales its production in 1919. Attala is one of the leading corn
producers, 605,000 bushels representing its annual yield. The live stock
is valued at $1,709,000, mules, horses and dairy cattle especially thriving.
Its dairy products constitute an important item of its wealth, amounting
to $333,000 yearly based on a total valuation of $642,000 for dairy cattle.
