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== History == Okolona was named as '''Rose Hill''' in 1845 early in its settlement, but residents later discovered that another location had this name. When a US post office was established here in 1850, a new name was needed to avoid confusion in mail delivery. According to the Okolona Area Chamber of Commerce, Colonel Josiah N. Walton, postmaster of nearby [[Aberdeen, Mississippi]], remembered an encounter with a [[Chickasaw]] warrior years earlier. The man's name was ''Oka-laua,'' meaning peaceful, yellow, or blue water. Walton renamed Rose Hill as Okolona in his honor. According to another account, Okalona is a Native American placename, possible from the Choctaw, meaning "people gathered together."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cushman |first=H. B. (Horatio Bardwell) |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924073559761/page/600/mode/2up |title=History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians |date=1899 |publisher=Greenville, Tex., Headlight Printing House |others=Cornell University Library |pages=61}}</ref> Due to the destruction brought to the area by the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], few structures from the antebellum period remain. The [[Elliott-Donaldson House]], constructed in 1850, survives and was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1980. A few other homes have also survived. In the mid nineteenth century, Okolona and the surrounding Black Prairie, sometimes called the [[Black Belt (geological formation)|Black Belt]] or Prairie Belt, became what has been called the "Bread Basket of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]". The area was part of the original [[Cotton Belt (region)|Cotton Belt]] of Mississippi well before the more famous [[Mississippi Delta|Delta region]] gained fame for major cotton production. The [[Mobile and Ohio Railroad]] completed its tracks though Okolona in 1859, making the town a center for the [[ginning]] of cotton and its shipment to markets. The town grew along Main Street as a result of the railroad. Most commercial buildings from this period, including the depot, were burned during the Civil War. ===Civil War era=== Five skirmishes or battles between [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] forces occurred in and around Okolona. The eponymous [[Battle of Okolona]] occurred in February 1864. In a running [[cavalry]] clash between Confederate General [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] and Union General [[William Sooy Smith]], the [[Union Army|Federals]] were defeated just north and west of town. General Forrest's brother, Jeffery, was killed in the engagement. ===Okolona College=== [[Okolona College]] was a [[Historically black colleges and universities|historically black college]] served African Americans 1902–1965. Today it is central to the [[Okolona College Historic District]].
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