Page Contents for Byhalia, Mississippi

Statistics & Facts

Location

History & History-related items

City Attractions

Government

Historical Events

Miscellany

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Statistics & Facts

The Mississippi state capital is Jackson.
The population of Byhalia is approximately 955 (1990), 1302 (2010).
The approximate number of families is 391 (1990), 494 (2010).
The amount of land area in Byhalia is 7.409 sq. kilometers.
The amount of land area in Byhalia is 2.86 sq. miles.
The amount of surface water is 0 sq kilometers.
The distance from Byhalia to Washington DC is 789 miles.
The distance to the Mississippi state capital is 177 miles. (as the crow flies)
Byhalia is positioned 34.86 degrees north of the equator and 89.68 degrees west of the prime meridian.
Byhalia elevation is 369 feet above sea level.

Location

19 miles from Memphis, Tennessee. Nearby communities include: Victoria, Olive Branch, Mount Pleasant and Red Banks
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History & History Related Items

Here is a history page for Byhalia.

Byhalia grew up where old Indian trails intersected. As time went by, new settlers built roads and bridges and settlements grew up around these intersections. Byhalia was first known as Farmington, which was the name of the Methodist mission there and later the local Farmington Methodist Church. When a post office was established, Farmington was rejected because it was already in use in Mississippi. The name of Byhalia was then selected and approved by the Post Office. Over time, the use of Farmington disappeared and Byhalia became the official and common name for the town. Byhalia is from the Chickasaw dialect and means "great oaks." The area had many great oaks in the surrounding forests.

Byhalia remained a small town, but a flourishing one with agriculture and trade being prevalent. Many southern planters bought up large portions of land in and around Byhalia. Some built large plantations to live on while others lived in town and had their overseers run the plantations. Though Byhalia became a social center for the planters, the town did not grow large.

Byhalia had great destruction from the Civil War and recovery was slow as it was for many of the southern communities. Real recovery did not occur until 1885 when the Frisco Railroad came through town.
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Attractions

NOTED NOTABLES
Famous author, William Faulkner, died in Byhalia.
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Byhalia City Government

Byhalia Fire Department
Phone: 662-838-4512

Byhalia Historical Events

1939, May
In May of 1939 Herbert Halpert, for the Library of Congress recorded Christine and Katherine Shipp of Byhalia, Mississippi, singing "She Lyin' Woman", a remix of the haunting song was made popular within the sound of the 1990's film, "The General's Daughter." Byhalia

Miscellany

Byhalia is located in the Central Time Zone and does participate in Daylight Savings Time.