Athens is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Monroe County,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

History

Athens was founded in 1830 and became the second county seat of Monroe County when Monroe County was split to form Lowndes County. Athens was named for the city in Greece, as the community's founders hoped it would become a "city of learning." Athens was located on a stagecoach line that ran from the

Natchez District The Natchez District was one of two areas established in the Kingdom of Great Britain's West Florida colony during the 1770sthe other being the Tombigbee District. The first Anglo settlers in the district came primarily from other parts of Britis ...

to Eastport. Athens was once home to six stores, three hotels, two churches, two taverns, and a school. In the 1840s, Athens had a population of 500. In 1849, the courthouse in Athens burned down and by 1857 the county seat was moved west of the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. After the county seat moved, Athens slowly began to lose its population. A post office operated under the name Athens from 1830 to 1873. The former Monroe County Jail (also known as the Athens Jail) was built in 1845 and is the oldest existing public building in Monroe County. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. A historical marker in Athens gives a brief description of its history.

Notable people

* Reuben Davis,

United States Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general * Samuel J. Gholson, a United States Congressman, judge, and Confederate general * William Peleg Rogers, lawyer and colonel of the

2nd Texas Infantry Regiment The 2nd Regiment, Texas Infantry was an infantry regiment from Texas that served with Confederate States Army in the American Civil War. The regiment was organized by the then Captain John Creed Moore who would become the regiment's 1st Colonel. ...

who died at the

Second Battle of Corinth The second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, ...

* Tilghman Tucker,

Governor of Mississippi A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 1842 to 1844

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Monroe County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Mississippi