Editing DeSoto County, Mississippi

{{short description|County in Mississippi, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
| county               = DeSoto County
| state                = Mississippi
| seal                 = 
| 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 percentage      = 4.2
| census yr            = 2020
| pop                  = 185314
| pop_est_as_of        = 2023
| population_est       = 193247 {{gain}}
| density_sq_mi        = auto
| web                  = www.desotocountyms.gov
| ex image             = Court House Hernando MS.jpg
| ex image cap         = DeSoto County Courthouse
| district             = 1st
| time zone            = Central
| named for            = [[Hernando de Soto]]
}}

'''DeSoto County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] - located on the northwestern border of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Mississippi]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the population was 185,314,<ref>{{cite web|title=Census - Geography Profile: DeSoto County, Mississippi|url=https://data.census.gov/profile/DeSoto_County,_Mississippi?g=0500000US28033|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 8, 2023}}</ref> making it the third-most populous county in Mississippi. Its [[county seat]] is [[Hernando, Mississippi|Hernando]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> DeSoto County is part of the [[Memphis metropolitan area]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.desotogreenways.org/scenic-byways/|title=Scenic Byways|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027102248/http://www.desotogreenways.org/scenic-byways/|archive-date=October 27, 2014}}</ref>

==History==

DeSoto County, Mississippi, was formally established February 9, 1836.<ref name=Lowry473>Robert Lowry and William H. McCardle, ''A History of Mississippi: From the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French Under Iberville to the Death of Jefferson Davis.'' Jackson, MS: R.H. Henry & Co., 1891; p. 473.</ref> The original county lines included territory now part of [[Tate County, Mississippi|Tate County]], which was carved out in 1873.<ref name=Lowry473 />

The county is named for [[Spain|Spanish]] explorer [[Hernando De Soto (explorer)|Hernando de Soto]], the first European explorer known to reach the [[Mississippi River]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n104 105]}}</ref> 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]].

===Early history===
Indian artifacts collected in DeSoto County link it with prehistoric groups of Woodland and [[Mississippian culture]] peoples. {{Citation needed|date=June 2012}} 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]].

===19th and 20th centuries===
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 {{convert|6442000|acre|km2|0}} 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 {{convert|640|acre|km2}} to individual Indian households. The Chickasaw, a numerically small tribe, were assigned {{convert|2422400|acre|km2|0}} of land by using that formula. The government declared the remainder as surplus and disposed of the remaining {{convert|400000|acre|km2}} 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.

{{Main|Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era}}
In 1890, the state legislature [[disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|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.

[[File:DeSoto County Co-op, DeSoto County, Mississippi (1954).jpg|thumb|right|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 (Mississippi)|Coldwater River]].<ref name="nave">[http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/feb/11/report-hinds-county-had-most-miss-lynchings/ R.L. Nave, "Report: Miss. No. 2 in Lynchings per Capita"], ''Jackson Free Press'', February 11, 2015; accessed March 19, 2017</ref> One account said that his body was weighted by chains and that authorities claimed it to be a suicide.<ref name="cold">[Michael Newton, ''Unsolved Civil Rights Murder Cases, 1934-1970'', McFarland, 2016, p. 102</ref>

In its 2015 report on ''Lynching in America'' (2015), the [[Bryan Stevenson|Equal Justice Institute]] documented 12 [[lynchings in the United States|lynchings]] in the county from 1877 to 1950.<ref name="eji">[https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-second-edition-supplement-by-county.pdf ''Lynching in America'', 2nd edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005306/https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-second-edition-supplement-by-county.pdf |date=June 27, 2018}}, Supplement by County, p. 5</ref> Most lynchings in the South took place around the turn of the 20th century.<ref name="eji"/>

Since the late 20th century, DeSoto County has experienced considerable suburban development related to the growth of Memphis.

===21st century===
As part of the [[Memphis, Tennessee|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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/feb/04/black-flight-propels-desoto/|work=Commercial Appeal|place=Memphis, Tennessee|title='Black flight' propels DeSoto County growth, census figures show|author=Henry Bailey|date=February 4, 2011|access-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref>

Such suburban residential development in the county has been most noticeable in the Mississippi cities of [[Southaven, Mississippi|Southaven]], [[Olive Branch, Mississippi|Olive Branch]], and [[Horn Lake, Mississippi|Horn Lake]]. Also stimulating development in the formerly rural area is the massive casino/resort complex, in the neighboring [[Tunica County, Mississippi|Tunica County]], which is the sixth-largest gambling district in the United States.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==Politics==

DeSoto County, as did most Southern counties, voted predominantly for the Democratic candidate through [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]]. A shift in this pattern took place beginning in [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]], as with the rest of the [[Solid South]]. The only Democrat to take DeSoto County since then has been [[Jimmy Carter]], in his successful [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]] bid.

{{PresHead|place=DeSoto County, Mississippi|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 6, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|48,064|29,023|2,167|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|46,462|28,265|1,397|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|43,089|20,591|2,475|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|43,559|21,575|660|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|44,222|19,627|474|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|36,306|13,583|326|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|24,879|9,586|471|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|18,135|10,282|5,464|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|16,104|8,833|2,638|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|14,681|5,449|120|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|12,576|4,369|77|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|9,655|6,344|420|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|6,240|7,756|316|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|7,917|1,557|315|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|1,092|1,898|5,346|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|2,928|461|0|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|553|795|734|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|398|1,236|212|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|754|1,288|0|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1948|Dixiecrat|14|137|1,299|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|123|1,561|0|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|40|1,491|4|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|13|1,343|0|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|13|1,396|4|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|64|1,357|0|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|17|1,065|0|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|27|816|2|Mississippi}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|12|861|1|Mississippi}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|10|546|21|Mississippi}}

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|497|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|476|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|21|sqmi}} (4.2%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_28.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928074019/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_28.txt |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=November 3, 2014 |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files }}</ref>

===Geographic features===
* [[Mississippi River]]
* [[Coldwater River (Mississippi)|Coldwater River]]
* [[Arkabutla Lake]]
* [[Chickasaw Bluffs]]

===Transit===
While there is no fixed-route transit within the county, [[Memphis Area Transit Authority]], [[Amtrak]], [[Greyhound Lines]], [[Megabus (North America)|Megabus]] and [[Delta Bus Lines]] serve nearby Memphis.

===Major highways===
* [[Image:I-55.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 55 in Mississippi|Interstate 55]]
* [[Image:I-69.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 69 in Mississippi|Interstate 69]]
* [[Image:I-269.svg|23px]] [[Interstate 269]]
* [[Image:US 51.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 51]]
* [[Image:US 61.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 61]]

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Shelby County, Tennessee|Shelby County]], [[Tennessee]] - north
* [[Crittenden County, Arkansas|Crittenden County]], [[Arkansas]] - west
* [[Tunica County, Mississippi|Tunica County]] - southwest
* [[Tate County, Mississippi|Tate County]] - south
* [[Marshall County, Mississippi|Marshall County]] - east

==Demographics==

{{US Census population
|1840= 7002
|1850= 19042
|1860= 23336
|1870= 32021
|1880= 22924
|1890= 24183
|1900= 24751
|1910= 23130
|1920= 24359
|1930= 25438
|1940= 26663
|1950= 24599
|1960= 23891
|1970= 35885
|1980= 53930
|1990= 67910
|2000= 107199
|2010= 161252
|2020= 185314
|estyear=2023
|estimate=193247
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2023">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 5, 2024}}</ref>
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=November 3, 2014}}</ref><br />1790-1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=November 3, 2014|archive-date=August 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811110448/http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 1900-1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ms190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=November 3, 2014}}</ref><br />1990-2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327165705/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=November 3, 2014}}</ref> 2010-2013<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/28/28033.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 3, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607050304/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/28/28033.html|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref>
}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable"
|+DeSoto County Racial Composition<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US28033&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=December 7, 2021|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|[[White (U.S. Census)|White]]
|108,466
|58.53%
|-
|[[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]]
|55,972
|30.2%
|-
|[[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]]
|298
|0.16%
|-
|[[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
|3,023
|1.63%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]]
|137
|0.07%
|-
|[[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
|7,257
|3.92%
|-
|[[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
|10,161
|5.48%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 185,314 people, 65,220 households, and 47,230 families residing in the county.

===2013===
As of the 2013 U.S.census estimates, there were 168,240 people living in the county. 70.3% were non-Hispanic [[white American|White]], 21.5% [[African American|Black or African American]], 1.6% [[Asian American|Asian]], 2.6% [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], 0.1% [[Pacific Islands American|Pacific Islander]], 5.0% were [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=U.S. Census website|author=Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS)}}</ref> The [[median income]] for a family was $66,377 and the mean income was $75,875.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP03 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212211753/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP03 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |title=American FactFinder - Results |author=Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS) }}</ref> DeSoto County has the highest median income in Mississippi and the second highest mean income after [[Madison County, Mississippi|Madison County]].

===2000 census===
According to the 2000 [[census]],<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> the largest self-identified ancestry groups in DeSoto County were [[English American|English]] 53.1%, [[Scots-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] 15.1%, [[African American|African]] 11.4%, and [[Irish American|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.

==Attractions==
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.''<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-08-26-best-ice-cream_N.htm|work=USA Today|title=The USA's best ice cream: Top parlors in 50 states|date=August 29, 2010}}</ref> 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.

===DeSoto County Museum===
[[File:Log House Hernando MS 04.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.desotomuseum.org/#/|title=DeSoto County Museum - Explore our heritage|last=Bryant|first=Josh|website=www.desotomuseum.org|access-date=March 6, 2018}}</ref>

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===
[[Norfolk, Mississippi#Hernando DeSoto Park|Hernando DeSoto Park]], located on Bass Road {{convert|6|mi|km|abbr=on}} west of [[Walls, Mississippi|Walls]], is a {{convert|41|acre|ha|abbr=on}} 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.<ref>{{cite web | title = Hernando DeSoto Park | publisher = DeSoto County Greenways and Parks | url = http://www.desotogreenways.org/hernando-desoto-river-park/ | access-date = September 17, 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Communities==

===Cities===
* [[Hernando, Mississippi|Hernando]] (county seat)
* [[Horn Lake, Mississippi|Horn Lake]]
* [[Olive Branch, Mississippi|Olive Branch]]
* [[Southaven, Mississippi|Southaven]]

===Town===
* [[Walls, Mississippi|Walls]]

===Census-designated places===
* [[Bridgetown, Mississippi|Bridgetown]]
* [[Eudora, Mississippi|Eudora]]
* [[Lake View, Mississippi|Lake View]]
* [[Lynchburg, Mississippi|Lynchburg]]
* [[Pleasant Hill, Mississippi|Pleasant Hill]]

===Unincorporated communities===
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Cedarview, Mississippi|Cedarview]]
* [[Center Hill, Mississippi|Center Hill]]
* [[Cockrum, Mississippi|Cockrum]]
* [[Days, Mississippi|Days]]
* [[Handy Corner, Mississippi|Handy Corner]]
* [[Lake Cormorant, Mississippi|Lake Cormorant]]
* [[Lewisburg, Mississippi|Lewisburg]]
* [[Love, Mississippi|Love]]
* [[Mineral Wells, Mississippi|Mineral Wells]]
* [[Nesbit, Mississippi|Nesbit]]
* [[Norfolk, Mississippi|Norfolk]]
* [[West Days, Mississippi|West Days]]
{{div col end}}

===Former village===
* [[Memphis, Mississippi|Memphis]]

==Education==
{{main|DeSoto County School District}}
Public education in DeSoto County is provided by the [[DeSoto County School District]], the [[school district]] for the entire county.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st28_ms/schooldistrict_maps/c28033_desoto/DC20SD_C28033.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731235017/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st28_ms/schooldistrict_maps/c28033_desoto/DC20SD_C28033.pdf |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |url-status=live|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: DeSoto County, MS|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|accessdate=July 31, 2022}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st28_ms/schooldistrict_maps/c28033_desoto/DC20SD_C28033_SD2MS.txt Text list]</ref> It is the state's largest school district.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} The district is responsible for the operation of eight high schools, eight middle schools, three intermediate (Grades 3–5) and numerous primary schools.

==Notable people==

* [[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.

==Media==
* ''[[DeSoto Times-Tribune]]''
* ''[[DeSotoCountyNews.com]]''

==See also==
{{Portal|Mississippi}}
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in DeSoto County, Mississippi]]
* [[Bill Hawks]], agribusinessman and former [[Mississippi State Senate|state senator]] from DeSoto County
* [[List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Suggested reading==
* ''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)

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{AmCyc Poster|De Soto|DeSoto County, Mississippi}}
* [http://www.desotocountyms.gov/ DesotoCountyMS.gov] - Official County Government Website
* [http://www.desotocounty.com/ DeSoto County Economic Development Council] - Official site.

{{Geographic Location
|Centre    = DeSoto County, Mississippi
|North     = [[Shelby County, Tennessee|Shelby County, Tennessee (Memphis)]]
|Northeast =
|East      = [[Marshall County, Mississippi|Marshall County]]
|Southeast =
|South     = [[Tate County, Mississippi|Tate County]]
|Southwest = [[Tunica County, Mississippi|Tunica County]]
|West      = [[Crittenden County, Arkansas]]
}}

{{DeSoto County, Mississippi}}
{{Mississippi}}
{{Memphis, Tennessee}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|34.88|-89.99|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-MS_source:UScensus1990}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desoto County, Mississippi}}
[[Category:DeSoto County, Mississippi| ]]
[[Category:Mississippi counties]]
[[Category:Counties in the Memphis metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Mississippi counties on the Mississippi River]]
[[Category:1836 establishments in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1836]]

[[la:DeSoto Comitatus]]