Greene County, Mississippi

Greene County Education, Geography, and History

Greene County is a county located in the state of Mississippi. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 14,400. Its county seat is Leakesville. The county was established in 1811 and is named for General Nathanael Greene.

Etymology - Origin of Greene County Name

Greene is named for American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Greene County History

This county is among the oldest erected in Mississippi, having been established on December 9, 1811, while David Holmes of Virginia was serving as territorial governor. The Counties of Amite, Franklin, Wayne and later George contributed to form its area, and its original limits were thus defined:

"Beginning on the line of demarcation, where the trading road leading from the Choctaw nation to Mobile crosses the same, thence along said trading road to where the fifth parallel township line crosses the same, thence west with said line to the fourth range of township east of Pearl River, numbering from whence the line of demarcation crosses the same, thence down the said range of townships to the line of demarcation, and with the same east to the beginning."

That portion of the county lying west of the dividing line between the eighth and ninth ranges, was taken February 3, 1820, to form the county of Perry.

Among its earliest settlers was a large infusion of industrious arid conservative Scotchmen from the Carolinas and Virginia, as is evidenced by the prefix "Mac," which appears in so many of the names. It was named for General Nathanael Greene, a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary war, and performed its share in shaping the early history of the Commonwealth, being represented by Laughlin McCoy and John McRae in the constitutional convention of 1817.

The county seat is at Leakesville and was named for Gov. Walter Leake. It is located on the Chickasawhay River.

 The first Court House was a little log building, which was destroyed by fire in 1875, all records were destroyed. A second log building was built, then a third, a brick Court House was built in 1899. A fourth building was built during the 1930's with assistance from the W. P. A.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 719 square miles (1,861 km²), of which, 713 square miles (1,846 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (15 km²) of it (0.82%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Wayne County (north)
• Washington County, Alabama (northeast)
• Mobile County, Alabama (southeast)
• George County (south)
• Perry County (west)

Education

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