Tunica was the name of a small tribe of Indians
who, at one time, occupied the southwest corner of the county, and the county
and town were named for them. The town of Tunica was laid out in 1884, on land
owned by Edwin L. HARRIS who agreed to donate alternate lots to the railroad
company in exchange for a depot. In deeding the land, HARRIS made the
stipulation that trains should always stop here, and that Tunica should never be
a flag stop. The deal was confirmed and the depot erected. Years later, the
railroad officials decided to abolish the station but could not do so under the
conditions of the old deed. Tunica was incorporated on 03 Mar 1888 by law
enacted in 1888 pg 408.
AUSTIN
Austin was incorporated on 24 Jan 1871 by Laws
enacted in 1871 p 353. Located about five miles southwest of Tunica, the town of
Austin was founded in 1847. It was named for Austin MILLER who made a donation
of land for the courthouse and town proper. The county seat was moved from
Commerce to Austin. The new town became a place of commercial importance, but in
1863, it was burned by Union soldiers under the command of Colonel ELLIOT. The
courthouse was destroyed, but the records were saved. The town was rebuilt and
incorporated in 1871. In time, the ill fortune that followed many of the river
towns overtook the town of Austin. In 1884, the levee suddenly broke in front of
the town, spreading devastation over the surrounding region. When the water
receded, it was found that a great sand bar had been left that continued to form
until steamboats could no longer land within a mile of the town's former
boundaries. This was followed a short time later by the construction of the
Louisville, New Orleans, and Texas Railroad, three miles to the east, so the
once-prosperous town soon became isolated and inaccessible. Public sentiment
then demanded the removal of the county seat to a more convenient location, and
in 1888, the town of Tunica was chosen, Austin continued to decline toward a
memory.
BANKS
A small community located six miles northeast of
Bowdre, Banks was formed in 1900 and was named for its founder, Richard
McPherson BANKS. The land was first owned by Ransom BYRNES in 1877.
BAYLEY
Located between Hollywood and Lost
Lake.
BEAVER DAM
Located three miles south of Tunica.
BLAIR FIELD
Blair Field, eighteen miles southwest of Tunica,
was established in1870 on the Blair Plantation, and in the 1930s, became locally
known as the Brand Place.
BOTHWELL
Located on County Line east of Lula
BOWDRE
Located four miles northeast of Hollywood, this
site was first bought from the Indians by Richard E. ORNE who sold it to
Archibald WRIGHT in 1854. With various transfers occurring, the land was later
owned by J.P. NORFLEET of Memphis.
The village was named for the BOWDRE brothers of
Memphis who owned the place when the railroad was built in 1884. Bowdre was a
flag stop on the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad but ceased to be that in
1889.
CLACK
Clack, two miles north of Robinsonville, was
established as a flag stop on the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad in 1885.
It was named for Phil CLACK who owned the land where the stop was
located.
CLAYTON
In 1884, Clayton was a railroad station located
seven miles south west of Tunica on a part of a large plantation once owned by
Judge Alexander H. CLAYTON, one of the foremost figures in the early history of
the county. Judge CLAYTON moved to Mississippi from Virginia in 1837 and
practiced law in the state for many years. At the time of his death in 1868, he
was Circuit Judge of his district.
COMMERCE
Commerce was incorporated 15 Feb 1839 by Laws
enacted in 1839 pg 398. Commerce, nine miles north of Tunica, was the first town
in Tunica County. It was founded in 1834 and became the county seat in 1836.
Thomas FLETCHER and a Choctaw Indian, who had been adopted by the Chickasaw,
founded the town and named it Commerce because they expected it to become a
great city. It was also known as the Metropolis of the Chickasaw Cession. With a
population of 7000, 3000 of which being slaves, Commerce was larger than the
city of Memphis in 1839. The construction of a railroad was started; the rails
were laid, and the road almost complete, when in 1840 the Administration of
Governor McNUTT took the charter away from the Hernando Bank, causing both the
bank and the railroad to go bankrupt. In 1841, the Mississippi River changed its
course, cutting into the city and slicing off the banks into the river. After
the river had taken a large portion of the town, the Board of Supervisors
decided to move the county seat to Austin. Thomas FLETCHER sold all he owned of
Commerce to Colonel Ransom BYRNES of Georgia. Colonel BYRNES wrecked the town,
planted cotton and eventually Commerce was added to the list of extinct towns in
the state.
COON BAYOU
Located in southeast Tunica County.
CREWS
Established in 1855, located seven miles west of
Dundee and named for the CREWS family who owned much of the land. About 1890,
most of the settlement caved into the river.
DENMARK
Located about two miles East of Stirling
Seabrook.
DOOLEY
Established in 1902, Dooley is seven miles
southeast of Tunica. It was a logging camp for the Dooley Lumber Company. In
1904, the Russe and Burgis Lumber Company took over operation of the camp. The
camp became extinct after the timber had all been cut.
DOOLEY WOODS
Located about nine miles east of Tunica and
between Prichard and Savage.
DUBBS
Dubbs, founded in 1873, is located four miles
southeast of Clayton, and was first known as Slabtown because the buildings were
made of slabs from the nearby sawmills. Dubbs was incorporated on 12 Feb 1890 by
laws enacted in 1890 pg 487. It was later named Dubbs short for the word Doubles
because to the twin nuts produced by the scaly-barked hickory in the
area.
DUNDEE
Dundee, founded in 1884 after the Louisville, New
Orleans and Texas Railroad was built, is located three miles southwest of Maud.
Dundee was incorporated on 06 Apr 1920 by Gubernatorial Proclamation. It was
first known as Carnesville and named for Captain J.B. CARNES who was one of the
principal landowners in the county. In 1887, the Post Office Department objected
to the name because of a similar named town and selected from a list of suitable
names, Dundee.
EAGLE LANDING
Eagle Landing is the name of an extinct boat
landing founded in 1870. It is located three miles southwest of Tunica, named
for the many nesting eagles near the site. The site of the landing was later
known as the Hood Plantation for the HOOD family who settled there in
1885.
EVANSVILLE
Located three miles south of Tunica, Evansville
was a small village named for Clayton EVANS, an early settler. The coming of the
Railroad in 1885 marked the beginning of Evansville with it being discontinued
later. The Evans brothers moved across the river after the county boundaries
were fixed in order to remain citizens of Tunica county, so the folklore
says.
FABER
Located seven miles southwest of Tunica, Faber was
a plantation store owned by a man named FABER in 1825. It was an early post
office but became extinct when most of the village caved into the
river.
FOX ISLAND
This island was important to the steamboats from
before 1860 to 1875 and located one mile west of Austin. Steamboats took on wood
as fuel. Only woodcutters and their families lived there; their children were
taught by a governess. One part of the island was known as McCann's Woodyard and
the other as Frederick Field.
FREDERICK'S LANDING
This is an extinct boat landing located two miles
northwest of Austin, which was owned by a man named FREDERICK who operated a
ferry on the river in 1865. It became extinct when it caved into the river in
1876.
GAY'S
L.W. GAY settled about eight miles west of Tunica
just after the Civil War. In 1924, the post office and a small store were in
operation but now the settlement is extinct.
GREEN RIVER
Located eight miles northeast of
Tunica.
HAMLIN
Hamlin, established as a flag stop on the Yazoo
and Mississippi Valley Railroad in 1885, was located three miles south of
Dundee. It was named for a local landowner and discontinued in 1897.
HARBERT BEND
Located sixteen miles southwest of Tunica,
established in 1841 and named for Crockett HARBERT who brought the land 06 Dec
1841. It is located on a bend in the river and became extinct in
1927.
HOLLYWOOD
Hollywood, formerly known as Holly Grove because
of a large grove of Holly trees, is located four miles north of Tunica. In 1855,
the railroad was built through the county and the name changed from Holly Grove
to Hollywood. Two black merchants were the first settlers, BELLE and RAMSEY. A
forest fire destroyed the town and Holly grove, the town was never rebuilt to its
former size.
INDIAN CREEK
Located about one mile west of
Robinsonville.
INTERSTATE
Founded in 1800 as a commissary and located about
one mile East of Austin. Became extinct after the Civil War, as it was burned
down. No trace of the place is now visible.
LESSER
Was located on the plantation of Leo Lesser in
1905 and consisted of a small store and post office. After in 1921 Mr. Lesser
went bankrupt the town became extinct.
LINWOOD LANDING
A boat landing located three miles West of
Commerce named for the Linwood family. By 1877 the Mississippi River had changed
its course making the landing useless.
LITTLE TEXAS
This town was founded in 1930 when Clay and Frank
Taylor bought stateland eight miles southeast of Tunica, set it up and named it
Little Texas.
LOST LAKE
Located nine miles northeast of Tunica.
MARTINDALE
Located two miles south of Banks, Martindale was a
spur of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. The spur was about 200 feet
long and named by John Martin, a lumberman. The camp ceased operations in
1910.
MAUD
Maud was first called Busby and located four miles
west of Dubbs. The name was changed in 1900, when a post office was opened and
it was found that another office was already in operation. It is named for Mrs.
W. G. Jaquess and remained only a post office on the plantation.
MHOON LANDING
This landing, located four miles west of Tunica,
was named for a family of early settlers in 1859. It was one of the last
landings in Tunica County and served as Red Cross Headquarters during the 1927
flood.
NASH'S LANDING
Located 18 miles southwest of Tunica, was
established in 1855 by Dr. Charles E. Nash of Arkansas as a plantation. Most of
the former plantation and landing have been reclaimed by the Mississippi
River.
OK LANDING
Located about one and a half miles southwest of
Austin.
PAYTON
Located about one and a half miles southwest of
Austin.
PINK
On the south end of Walnut Lake in 1900, about 14
miles southeast of Tunica, Pink was founded. Pink Bizzell operated a post office
called Pink in his small store. Pink finally became extinct after about 20
years.
POLK
Established in 1847 about two miles north of
Commerce and named for President James K. Polk who once owned the land. The land
was still in the Polk family in 1930.
PRICHARD
Prichard was founded eight miles northeast of
Tunica on the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. It was named for an early
settler, Joe Prichard. Early settlers listed: Dory Dye and Sam France and Mrs.
Jane Prichard.
ROBINSONVILLE
A Chickasaw Indian, Hath Lo TA, sold the land to
Jacob Thompson, also an Indian, in 1837. Mr. Caruthers of Marshall County bought
part of the land which was five miles west of Banks on which Robinsonville was
founded in 1855 by Colonel C.L. and Virginia P. Robinson. The town was destroyed
in 1893 by a cyclone.
SHOO FLY BAR
Located west of Austin.
STATE LINE LEVEE
Located in SouthWest Tunica County near Helena,
AR.
STUBBS
Located 24 miles southwest of Tunica, in the
southwest part of the county near the county line; it was formed from the Clark
Plantation in 1880 and named for the man who owned the land, Hugh
Stubbs.
TIBBS
Tibbs is located partly in Tunica County and
partly in Quitman County with the Coldwater River dividing it, seven miles
southeast of Dubbs. It was founded by the Tibbs Family from Indianapolis, IN.
and in the early part of the 1930s sold to the U.S. Government.
TROTTER'S LANDING
This is an extinct landing located eight miles
southwest of Dundee and was originally called Glendale Landing. C.L. Moore, who
operated a ferry to Helena, AR, founded the town in 1820. Captain John Trotter
bought the land in 1846, and the name was changed to Trotter's Landing for him.
It was never important except as a river landing.
WICKER
Wicker was a spur tack used by the Green Lumber
Company in 1820 for shipment of logs to Memphis. It is located ten miles east of
Tunica. The spur ran from the Lake Comorant Branch of the Yazoo and Mississippi
Valley Railroad to this site on the Wicker Plantation.