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1836
The 1836 courthouse square
Edward Orne's 40-acre gift became a 450-foot public square and 172 lots that still form the center of Hernando.
Thomas R Machnitzki
This story is sourced from the DeSoto County Genealogical Society history of DeSoto County. Discover DeSoto does not invent heritage facts outside that record.
Source: DeSoto County Genealogical Society, About DeSoto County: A Brief History of DeSoto County Mississippi
On August 16, 1836, Edward Orne donated 40 acres of Section 13 Township 3 Range 8 West to the Board of Police for a county seat. The tract was planned with a 450-foot public square surrounded by 172 lots. In the two blocks around the square there were five streets north and south and five streets east and west.
A public sale of lots in August 1836 produced funds to build a courthouse and a jail. The contract was let December 1, 1836. The town was first called Jefferson. The Mississippi Senate changed the name to Hernando to avoid confusion with other post office names in the state.
That plan still forms the center of Hernando, the county seat. Later chapters of the same history record wartime destruction of the courthouse, rebuilding in 1872, the overnight fire that destroyed the "French Castle Courthouse" in 1940, and the handsome replacement that became the central part of the present courthouse.
From the visual record
Images connected to this story
The DeSoto County Courthouse at the center of Hernando's historic square.
Storefronts facing the public square laid out at Hernando's founding.
The courthouse lawn and surrounding street grid in modern Hernando.
Explore Hernando today, or return to the heritage hub.
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