Corinth, Alcorn County, Mississippi, 1891

Corinth, the seat of justice of Alcorn County, is the most prominent city in northern Mississippi, and has a population of twenty- five hundred. It is situated on the Memphis & Charleston and Mobile & Ohio railroads, ninety-three miles from Memphis. During the Civil war it was occupied successively by the Federal and Confederate forces, it having been regarded as a point of much strategic importance. The Confederate army fell back on Corinth after the battle of Pittsburg landing. Upon its evacuation by Beauregard, Corinth was invested by Halleck. General Rosecrans made his headquarters at Corinth while in command of the district. General Van Dorn attacked Corinth later and made determined battle, directing his troops in person, but was driven back and pursued by Generals Harlbut and Ord, but escaped beyond the Hatchie River.

Corinth has grown steadily and substantially since the war. It has ten churches, is amply supplied with good public schools and other institutions of learning, and has numerous commercial, manufacturing and financial institutions.

Jacinto, the former seat of justice, is a small place but the center of considerable local trade. Other towns are Danville, Rienzi, Wenasoga and Glendale. Rienzi has a population of three hundred and seventy-five. Its first plat was near its present site, where at the outbreak of the war quite a village had grown up which had considerable prestige until the division of Tishomingo County. In 1875 Rienzi was visited by a destructive storm by which it was destroyed and a number of its citizens were killed. The Methodists, Baptists and Cumberland Presbyterians all have good houses of worship; they now meet in the Methodist church and in Mason’s hall.

Back to: Mississippi Counties, Cities and Towns, 1891

Source: Biographical and Historical Memories of Mississippi, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891