Hometown Mississippi: Alcorn County

This blog post originally appeared 10/11/2007.

Here in the state of Mississippi, we have some interesting place names and sometimes even more interesting origins of those place names. We often use a book called Hometown Mississippi to answer reference questions. Using this resource, we will begin a series on unusual place names of Mississippi.


Alcorn County, MS

Alcorn County is located in the northeast corner of the state and is bordered by Tishomingo Co. to the east, Tennessee to the north, Tippah Co. to the west, and Prentiss Co. to the south. The county was formed in 1870 and named after the Governor of MS at that time, James L. Alcorn.

Corinth

Corinth started life in 1853 under the name Cross City for the junction of two railroads: the Mobile & Ohio and the Memphis & Charleston. As the town grew, W.E. Gibson, the editor of the local paper, suggested a name change. The name Corinth comes from the city of the same name in Greece.

Boneyard

In the 1830's, this site eight miles to the west of Corinth became the home to a "homely cadaverous looking man by the name of William Powell"(7). Before its destruction during the Civil War, the site became known as Boneyard as a direct result of the physical appearance of its founder.

Coke

This little place was established in 1920 and was named for Tom Coke, a farmer who owned the land.

Cuba

Cuba was formally established in 1880 and was named for the island of Cuba.

Gift

Gift was first known as Jones after Uncle Jimmy Jones who built a home there in 1864 and also donated land for the first schoolhouse. A jeweler named J.E. Gift donated an even larger gift of money for the schools. So the settlement's name became gift in the benefactor's honor.

Hightown

Twelve miles southwest of Corinth, this settlement was named so in 1839 for its high elevation.

Tapp

This town in the northern part of the county was settled in 1880 by a man named Vince Tapp. Sadly, the town was listed as extinct in 1928.

Wenasoga

This settlement is named for an Indian Chieftan and was established in 1859. It's affectionately known as "Sogie".

Until next time...

Brieger, James F. Hometown Mississippi. 1980