DeSoto County

It is the second-most populous county in that statistical area. The county has lowland areas that were developed in the 19th century for cotton plantations, and hill country in the eastern part of the county.

• County — DeSoto County • State — Mississippi • Founded — February 9, 1836 • Seat Wl — Hernando • Largest City Wl — Southaven • Area Total Sq Mi — 497 • Area Land Sq Mi — 476 • Area Water Sq Mi — 21 • Area Water Percent — 4.2 • Population As Of — 2020 • Population Total — 185314 • Pop Est As Of — 2025 • Population Est — 197918 • Population Density Sq Mi — auto • Website — www.desotocountyms.gov • District — 1st • Time Zone — Central • Named For — Hernando de Soto

DeSoto County, Mississippi, was formally established February 9, 1836. The original county lines included territory now part of Tate County, which was carved out in 1873. The county is named for Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, the first European explorer known to reach the Mississippi River. The county seat, Hernando, is also named in his honor. De Soto reportedly died in that area in May 1542, although some accounts suggest that he died near Lake Village, Arkansas.

Indian artifacts collected in DeSoto County link it with prehistoric groups of Woodland and Mississippian culture peoples. Members of the Mississippian culture, who built complex settlements and earthwork monuments throughout the Mississippi River Valley and its major tributaries, met Hernando de Soto in the mid-16th century when he explored what is now North Mississippi. By tradition, he is believed to have traveled with his expedition through present-day DeSoto County. Some scholars speculate that de Soto discovered the Mississippi River west of present-day Lake Cormorant, built rafts there, and crossed to present-day Crowley's Ridge, Arkansas. Based on records of the expedition and archeology, the National Park Service has designated a "DeSoto Corridor" from Coahoma County, Mississippi to the Chickasaw Bluff in Memphis. The Mississippian culture declined and disappeared, and in most areas this preceded European contact. Scholars speculate this may have followed changes in the environment. The town named Chicasa, which De Soto visited, was probably the ancestral home of the historical Chickasaw, who are descended from the Mississippian culture. They had lived in the area for centuries before white settlers began arriving. Present-day Pontotoc, Mississippi developed near the Chickasaw "Long Town", which was composed of several villages near each other. The Chickasaw Nation regarded much of western present-day Tennessee and northern Mississippi as their traditional hunting grounds. The Chickasaw traded furs for French goods, and the French established several small settlements among them. However, France ceded its claim to territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain in 1763, after having been defeated in the Seven Years' War. The United States acquired the area from the British as part of the treaty that ended the American Revolution.

The Chickasaw finally ceded most of their land to the United States under pressure during Indian Removal, and a treaty in 1832. They were forced to remove to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Negotiations began in September 1816 between the United States government and the Chickasaw nation and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc in October 1832. During those 16 years, federal officials pressed the Chickasaw for cessions of land to extinguish their land claims to enable white settlement in their territory. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, authorizing forcible removal if necessary to extinguish Native American claims in the Southeast. From 1832 to 1836, government surveyors mapped the 6442000 acre of the Chickasaw domain and divided it into townships, ranges and sections. The Mississippi Legislature formed 10 new counties, including DeSoto, Tunica, Marshall, and Tate, from the territory. By treaty, the land was assigned by sections of 640 acre to individual Indian households. The Chickasaw, a numerically small tribe, were assigned 2422400 acre of land by using that formula. The government declared the remainder as surplus and disposed of the remaining 400000 acre at public sale. The Indians received at least $1.25 per acre for their land. The government land sold for 75 cents per acre or less. During and after the Civil War, the area was developed as large plantations by planters for cultivation of cotton, a leading commodity crop. Before the Civil War, they had depended on the labor of thousands of enslaved African Americans. After the war and emancipation, many freedmen stayed in the area, but shaped their own lives by working on small plots as sharecroppers or tenant farmers, rather than on large labor gangs on the plantations. Reliance on agriculture meant that the area did not develop much economically well into the 20th century, and both whites and blacks suffered economically. In 1890, the state legislature disenfranchised most blacks under the new constitution, which used poll taxes and literacy tests to raise barriers to voter registration. In the early 20th century, many people left the rural county for cities to gain other opportunities. Most blacks could not vote in Mississippi until the late 1960s, after the passage of federal legislation. • Illustration — DeSoto County Co-op in Hernando, a sharecroppers' union, 1954 During the Great Depression, the Southern Tenant Farmers Union was organized in 1934. It was open to both black and white sharecroppers and worked to gain better deals and fair accounting from local white landowners. Whites in DeSoto County resisted the effort. In 1935, a white lynch mob attacked early union organizer and minister Reverend T. A. Allen, shot him, and threw him into the Coldwater River. One account said that his body was weighted by chains and that authorities claimed it to be a suicide. In its 2015 report on Lynching in America (2015), the Equal Justice Institute documented 12 lynchings in the county from 1877 to 1950. Most lynchings in the South took place around the turn of the 20th century. Since the late 20th century, DeSoto County has experienced considerable suburban development related to the growth of Memphis.

As part of the Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area, the early-21st-century DeSoto County has become one of the 40 fastest-growing counties in the United States. That is attributed to suburban development as middle-class and wealthier blacks leave Memphis to acquire newer housing and commute to Memphis for work. Some observers have characterized the shift as black flight, but it is also typical of the pattern of postwar suburban growth in which people who could afford it moved to newer housing in suburbs. Such suburban residential development in the county has been most noticeable in the Mississippi cities of Southaven, Olive Branch, and Horn Lake, as well with the county seat of Hernando. Also stimulating development in the formerly rural area is the massive casino/resort complex, in the neighboring Tunica County, which is the sixth-largest gambling district in the United States.

DeSoto County, as did most Southern counties, voted predominantly for the Democratic candidate through 1960. A shift in this pattern took place beginning in 1964, as with the rest of the Solid South. The only Democrat to win DeSoto County since then has been Jimmy Carter, in his successful 1976 bid. However, 1964 was a protest vote against Lyndon Johnson, the 1968 election was for a Democrat running as an independent, and 1972 was for Nixon's second term where he won most of the country. It wasn't until after 1980 that the state became a solid Republican presidential vote and not until 2012 was the State House and Senate Republican. 1992 was the first Republican Governor since 1876. DeSoto County itself only voted 13% for the Republican in 1968, but has been reliably Republican for President since 1980. It first voted for a Republican Governor in 1995, and has since.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 497 sqmi, of which 476 sqmi is land and 21 sqmi (4.2%) is water.

• Mississippi River • Coldwater River • Arkabutla Lake • Chickasaw Bluffs

While there is no fixed-route transit within the county, Memphis Area Transit Authority, Amtrak, Greyhound Lines, Megabus and Delta Bus Lines serve nearby Memphis.

• Interstate 55 • Interstate 69 • Interstate 269 • U.S. Route 51 • U.S. Route 61

• Shelby County, Tennessee - north • Crittenden County, Arkansas - west • Tunica County - southwest • Tate County - south • Marshall County - east

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 185,314. The median age was 37.6 years. 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.2 males age 18 and over. The racial makeup of the county was 59.4% White, 30.3% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.3% from some other race, and 5.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.5% of the population. 78.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 21.9% lived in rural areas. There were 67,404 households in the county, of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.2% were married-couple households, 15.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 72,079 housing units, of which 6.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.7% were owner-occupied and 26.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 14.6%.

As of the 2013 U.S.census estimates, there were 168,240 people living in the county. 70.3% were non-Hispanic White, 21.5% Black or African American, 1.6% Asian, 2.6% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.0% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). The median income for a family was $66,377 and the mean income was $75,875. DeSoto County has the highest median income in Mississippi and the second highest mean income after Madison County.

According to the 2000 census, the largest self-identified ancestry groups in DeSoto County were English 53.1%, Scots-Irish 15.1%, African 11.4%, and Irish 4.5%. Since then the percentage of African-American population in the county has nearly doubled, as the total county population has also grown.

DeSoto County is known for its golf courses. Velvet Cream, known as 'The Dip' by locals, is a landmark restaurant in the county. Operating since 1947, it is the oldest continually running restaurant in the county. In 2010, it was awarded 'Best Ice Cream in Mississippi' by USA Today. DeSoto County was also previously known as the home of Maywood Beach, a water park that closed in 2003 after more than 70 years of operation.

• Illustration — DeSoto County Museum and 18th-century French colonial-style log house A popular attraction is the DeSoto County Museum located in the county seat of Hernando. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10–5. Admission is free but donations are encouraged. Exhibits include displays on Hernando DeSoto, Civil War history, French colonial and American antebellum homes of the county, civil rights, and the history of each of the county's municipalities. An eighteenth-century French colonial log house (see photo to the right) has been preserved from the time of French trading and settlement along the Mississippi. This house is similar in style to several French colonial houses preserved in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, where many French settled after France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain following its defeat in the Seven Years' War.

Hernando DeSoto Park, located on Bass Road 6 mi west of Walls, is a 41 acre park that features a hiking/walking trail, river overlook, picnic area, and boat launch. It is the only location in DeSoto County with public access to the Mississippi River.

• Hernando (county seat) • Horn Lake • Olive Branch • Southaven

• Walls

• Bridgetown • Eudora • Lake View • Lynchburg • Pleasant Hill

• Cedarview • Center Hill • Cockrum • Days • Handy Corner • Lake Cormorant • Lewisburg • Love • Mineral Wells • Nesbit • Norfolk • West Days

• Memphis

Public education in DeSoto County is provided by the DeSoto County School District, the school district for the entire county. It is the state's largest school district. The district is responsible for the operation of eight high schools, eight middle schools, three intermediate (Grades 3–5) and numerous primary schools.

• Nakobe Dean, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles. • John Grisham, lawyer, writer. • Olivia Holt, actor, singer. • Jerry Lee Lewis (1935-2022), singer, songwriter, pianist. • Cody Reed, MLB pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays. • Austin Riley, MLB third baseman, Atlanta Braves. • Ricky Stenhouse Jr., NASCAR.

• DeSoto Times-Tribune • DeSoto County News

• Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790–1920, Thorndale, William, and Dollarhide, William; Copyright 1987. (Historic state maps including evolution of DeSoto County)