De Soto is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Clarke County, Mississippi Clarke County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 15,615. Its county seat is Quitman, Mississippi, Quitman. Clarke County is named fo ...

, United States. It was first named as a CDP in the 2020 Census which listed a population of 274.

History

De Soto was named after

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

. De Soto was one of four principle towns established in Clarke County before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Established along the

Chickasawhay River The Chickasawhay River is a river about long in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. It is a principal tributary of the Pascagoula River that flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Chickasawhay's tributaries also drain a portion of wester ...

before the arrival of the

Mobile and Ohio Railroad Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

, construction of housing in De Soto may have started as early as 1845 and by 1858 churches were being erected. The town had a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

and two churches in 1900 when the population was 258. A post office operated under the name De Soto from 1856 to 1978. At one point, De Soto was home to two sawmills, a drug store, a hotel, a blacksmith, and multiple general stores. Four sites in De Soto are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

: the C. V. Akin House, the Carmichael House, the Cook-Sellers House, and the Covington House.

Demographics

2020 census

Education

It is in the Quitman School District. The county is in the zone for Jones College.

References

Unincorporated communities in Clarke County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Mississippi Census-designated places in Clarke County, Mississippi {{ClarkeCountyMS-geo-stub