Desoto County, Mississippi

DeSoto County, Mississippi
DeSoto County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 9, 1836
Named for	Hernando de Soto
Seat	Hernando
Largest city	Southaven
Area
• Total	497 sq mi (1,287 km2)
• Land	476 sq mi (1,233 km2)
• Water	21 sq mi (54 km2), 4.2%
Population
• (2010)	161,252
• Density	324/sq mi (125/km²)
Congressional district	1st
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website

DeSoto County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 161,252, making it the third-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Hernando.DeSoto County is part of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is the second-most populous county in the MSA. 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.

The county is named for Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, the first European explorer to reach the Mississippi River. The county seat, Hernando, is also named in his honor. De Soto allegedly died in that area in May 1542, although some believe that he died near Lake Village, Arkansas. See here for a list of sites associated with the 16th-century De Soto Expedition.

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, met Hernando DeSoto 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 DeSoto 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 the Chickasaw Bluff (Memphis) to Coahoma County, Mississippi.