S E E
CHICKASAW
If you're interested in the synergy of Chickasaw county, Visit our local events to get a taste of true southern hospitality. Experience true Mississippi with bike trails, horseback riding, ATV trails, championship fishing, hiking, hunting, and camping.
our economic landscape is growing rapidly, as well. Located near the midpoint of the Natchez Trace Parkway, thirty minutes from the commercial center of Tupelo, and a pleasant hour's drive from both Oxford and Starkville, Chickasaw County has so much to offer. We hope you'll come S E E Chickasaw county soon!
Houston, Mississippi
Part of the ancient Chickasaw Homeland, the City of Houston was founded in 1837 as the county seat of the nascent Chickasaw County which had been formed a year prior. The land for the city was donated by Judge Joe Pinson who named the city after his childhood friend and hero of Texas, Sam Houston.
Houston, Mississippi is, in fact, the first community to be named after Sam Houston. The City of Houston, with its location on the well-traveled Natchez Trace Parkway, thrived as a trading town over the next few decades until that growth was interrupted by the American Civil War. The war brought widespread ruin and loss to the area, including an incident where Union Troops, for some reason, burned nearly all the county records as workers tried to move them to safe keeping.
The town remained a sleepy Southern town (Roberta Streeter, also known as Bobbie Gentry, was from the area and that feeling of sleepiness may have been included in Ode to Billy Joe) until the furniture boom that happened across the state in the 1970s and 1980s when Houston saw a surprising growth in population and industry. However, the offshoring of much of the furniture industry in the late 1990s saw an end to that growth and Houston reverted to its sleepy small-town status.
Then, in 2012, Houston was designated as the southern gateway to the longest bike trail in Mississippi, the 44-mile Tanglefoot Trail, rails to trails conversion trail that runs from Houston, north to New Albany, Mississippi.
The trail adds to Houston’s already impressive list of nearby outdoor activities. There’s camping, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and miles of off-road ATV trails nearby. Add to that a growing agritourism sector, a convenient location at the halfway point of the Natchez Trace, proximity to the commercial center of Tupelo, and quick travel time to both Ole Miss and Mississippi State, and Houston is a fine base from which to explore the region and get a taste of that real Mississippi that Bobby Gentry sang about.
To contact us with questions, please see the contact page. City of Houston government site www.houston.ms.gov.