Pelahatchie Municipal Court
Pelahatchie is a town in Rankin County, Mississippi, with a population of approximately 2,000. Some say Pelahatchie means “Crooked Creek” in the Choctaw language, while others say it means “so big” or “hurricane creek.” The first settlers to Pelahatchie migrated from the Carolinas and Virginia, settling near the creek. It is believed a man with Indian blood, Billy Goforth owned significant acreage in the area which eventually became Pelahatchie. The location of Pelahatchie was recognized by the Historical Commission of Mississippi when a marker was placed to designate the boundary between Doak’s Stand and Dancing Rabbit Creek—four miles east of Pelahatchie. The Choctaw Indians ceded 5,500,000 acres of land in the central and western parts of Mississippi when the treaty at Doak’s Stand was signed, opening up the area for white settlers coming from Tennessee, the Carolinas, Alabama and Georgia.
Pelahatchie narrowly escaped being destroyed after the fall of Vicksburg when General Sherman followed the Old Stage Road east of Brandon rather than the railroad. The A & V Railway came through Pelahatchie in 1858, opening up the area to the outside world even more. In 1891 there were only three established schools in the county, with one of them being in Pelahatchie. A grocery store, a general mercantile and a saloon soon followed. As progress continued, a hotel in the area became necessary as well as a Farmers Alliance Shed and stalls to house horses and oxen of visitors to the area.
By 1910 Pelahatchie had a population of 943 by 1910, primarily due to a new sawmill in town, the Lockwood Lumber Company. This sawmill was followed by the Appalonia Lumber Company, the Pearl River Valley Lumber Company and the Gamill Lumber Company. In 1934 the Pearl River Valley Lumber Company burned to the ground, leaving more than 1,000 people without a job, and causing a significant decline in the Pelahatchie population. The Pelahatchie Poultry company came to the area in 1930, and was, notably, one of the first poultry processing companies to utilize assembly line processing. One of the premier events in Pelahatchie is the annual Muscadine Jubilee which brings thousands of people into the area to pay homage to the muscadine grape—a famed ingredient in southern wines.
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