McNutt is an

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 ...

located in

Leflore County Leflore County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,339. The county seat is Greenwood. The county is named for Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore, who signed a treaty to cede his pe ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. McNutt is located west of Schlater, just off Mississippi Highway 442. It is part of the

Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area The Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area is a micropolitan area in the northwestern Delta region of Mississippi that covers two counties - Leflore and Carroll. As of the 2000 census, the USA had a population of 48,716 (though a July 1, 200 ...

History

McNutt was named for McNutt Lake, which was in turn named for Alexander McNutt, the

Governor of Mississippi The governor of Mississippi is the head of government of Mississippi and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Mississippi National Guard, military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either appro ...

from 1838 to 1842. McNutt served as the first county seat of Sunflower County when the county was formed in 1844. The first courthouse was a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

, which was eventually replaced by a brick building. When Leflore County was formed in 1871 from portions of Carroll, Sunflower and Tallahatchie counties, the courthouse records and building became property of the new county. After Greenwood became the county seat of Leflore County, the former county buildings in McNutt were sold and became private property. The former courthouse was then used as a

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

, school building, church, and

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, pa ...

. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Federal troops passed through McNutt as part of the Yazoo Pass expedition. McNutt was essentially abandoned when it was bypassed by the

Georgia Pacific Railway The Georgia Pacific Railway was a railway company chartered on December 31, 1881, consolidating the Georgia Western Railroad and the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company of Alabama. The Georgia Western Railroad was chartered by the Georgia Legislat ...

. The community was once home to a Catholic church that was part of the Diocese of Natchez and was served occasionally by a priest from Yazoo. A post office operated under the name McNutt from 1847 to 1909. In 1900, the community had a population of 62.

References

Unincorporated communities in Leflore County, Mississippi Unincorporated communities in Mississippi Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area {{LefloreCountyMS-geo-stub