Leflore County was established on March 15, 1871 from Sunflower County, Carroll County and Tallahatchie County. The county was named in honor of Greenwood LeFlore, a Choctaw Indian Chief advocate of citizenship for Native Americans and U.S. Senator from Mississippi.

Leflore County is located in in the Delta Region of Mississippi. The first settlement on the banks of the Yazoo River was a trading post founded by John Williams in 1830, known as Williams Landing. The settlement quickly blossomed and in 1844, was incorporated as “Greenwood” after Chief Greenwood Leflore.

The County Seat is located in Greenwood.

Growing into a strong cotton market, the key to the Greenwood’s success was its strategic geographic location in the heart of the Delta on the easternmost point of the alluvial plain and astride the Tallahatchie and Yazoo rivers. The city served as a shipping point to New Orleans, Vicksburg, Memphis and St. Louis and flourished until the latter part of the Civil War.

The city struggled after the Civil War until the arrival of the railroads in the 1880’s. Two lines ran into downtown close to the Yazoo River, and once again, Greenwood emerged as a prime shipping point for cotton. Downtown’s Front Street bordering the levy bustled with cotton factors and earned the name Cotton Row. The city prospered this way into the 1940’s.

Bordering Counties are Tallahatchie County (north), Grenada County (northeast), Carroll County (east), Holmes County (southeast), Humphreys County (southwest) and Sunflower County (west).
The county has a total area of 606.35 square miles of which 591.93 square miles is land and 14.42 square miles (2.38%) is water.

Neighboring counties are Tallahatchie County (north), Grenada County (northeast), Carroll County (east), Holmes County (southeast), Humphreys County (southwest), Sunflower County (west). The city of Greenwood is the county seat. Other communities in the county include Itta Bena, Morgan City, Schlater, Sidon, Berclair, Browning, McNutt, Minter City, Money, Rising Sun, Ruby, Shellmound, Sunnyside, Swiftown, Quito, and Colony Town.

Cities and towns located in the County include Greenwood, Itta Bena, Morgan City, Schlater, Sidon.

Population

The population recorded in the 1880 Federal Census was 10,246. The population peaked in 1930 with a total of 53,506. The 2010 census recorded 32,317 residents in the county.

Maps