Welcome to the Rankin County, Mississippi Project on the US GenWeb.

According to legend, Cato was a trading center for miles around and boasted four stores, two saloons, and a rock warehouse long before the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad ran through Rankin County.

The first merchant in Cato was Gus Martin. One of the saloons was owned by a man named Chandler and the warehouse built by Pullen and Corban was owned by Don Sandifer.

C. R. Norman was the only doctor for nearly thirty years and lived just north of where the old Cato store stood.
It is not known if Frank Martin was the first postmaster, but was certainly among the first and served as postmaster for nearly thirty years.
The first school was located in a log house and taught by Miss Ring who had moved to the area from the North. As late as 1938, you could still see where the clay dirt chimney for the house had stood. Later Dr. Gayden, Frank Martin, Silas Tucker and John Martin organized a school that held classes in the old Bell house.

Among early teachers were Abner Nash, Tom Lamb, P. B. Bridges, and William Buchanan. Mr. Buchanan taught at Cato went to Brandon to study law.

Crossgates is located on a unique property of 1,000 acres that was formerly operated as one of the state's largest dairy farms.

The G. R. Worthington family operated the dairy farm. Originally the area consisted of 10,000 acres known as the Pleasant Grove Plantation.

In 1840 part of the 10,000 acres was purchase by the A. P. Miller family from Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee personally did the survey of the land and this survey accompanied the transfer of the property.

In the Civil War a part of the Federal Army left Jackson to capture Brandon, reaching the Pleasant Grove Plantation at mid-afternoon and camped in a cornfield for the night. According to legend, the officer in charge used the home for his headquarters and utilized the music room for a stable for his horse and used the baby grand piano as a feed trough.
Historian for the National Park Service, Ed Bearss has written that the last shot fired in the Vicksburg Campaign was fired on Miller's Lane. This is the approximate location where Crossgates is located.

The historical roots of Pelahatchie can be traced to the very beginning of Mississippi statehood. It's very location historically significant, was recognized by the Historical Commission of Mississippi when a marker was placed four miles east of Pelahatchie to designate the boundary between the Choctaw Cessions of 1820 (Doak's Stand) and 1830 ( Dancing Rabbit). With the signing of the treaty at Doak's Stand, the Choctaw Indians ceded to the United States 5,500,000 acres of land in the central and western part of the state, thus opening the door for white settlers to move into this part of Mississippi. They came from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and primarily the Carolinas as part of the Great Westward Movement. Pelahatchie, a Choctaw Indian word, received its name from the creek which surrounded the settlement. During the 1850's settler's from the Carolinas ventured into these lands and established a community at the site of an old Indian Village. Billy Goforth, a half-Indian, had come into possession of all the lands, which were to be known as Pelahatchie. Indians, as did pioneers, had a certain way of naming places. Some say the Indians gave the creek a name meaning "crooked", while others say it means"hurricane". It seems logical the Choctaws would have meant "Crooked Creek" because of the turning and twisting course of the creek.

The area experienced steady growth after the signing of the Doak's Treaty, but narrowly escaped destruction following the fateful march of General Sherman across Mississippi after the fall of Vicksburg. Sherman following the Old Stage Road east of Brandon instead of the railroad, just missed Pelahatchie. After being settled by the Carolina pioneers in the 1850's, Pelahatchie saw the Alabama and Vicksburg (A&V) Railroad come through the settlement in 1858. G. F. Spann soon laid out the tow on a 300- acre plot in 1860. In the early 1870's a school was erected where the Baptist Church now stands. At the end of 1891, Pelahatchie had one of the only three schools in the county. Historical facts note the first Post Office was established in 1868 and three business were erected in 1866, a grocery store by W. A. Preacher, a general mercantile by Col. George W. Brooks and a saloon by Eli McMullan. By 1883, three more businesses had begun. With so much progress, there was a need for a hotel in the area. The Lessel's built their first hotel near the railroad which runs between Vicksburg and Meridian. Between 1880-1900 a campground was established complete with a camp house, a Farmers Alliance Shed and stalls for oxen and horse teams. These facilities were used by people coming to town to shop and sell their cotton and other farm crops. The two hundred plus settlers in the little community became aware of the growing need to receive a proclamation from the state to incorporate Pelahatchie and establish a town government. On June 30, 1904 Pelahatchie was placed on the map and reached a population of 943 by 1910.

The surge in the population was due primarily to the location of a sawmill in the town in 1907 by the Lockwood Lumber Company. This company was followed by Gamill Lumber Company and the Pearl River Valley Lumber Company. Tragedy struck however, in 1934 when the latter mill was totally destroyed by a fire, putting over 1000 persons out of work. The mill was never rebuilt and the population of Pelahatchie declined drastically as a result. The poultry industry was born in Pelahatchie in 1930. In the early days, the Pelahatchie Poultry was among the first to utilize the modern concept of assembly line poultry processing. The poultry industry, while not able to transform Pelahatchie into a boomtown , served the town and surrounding communities as a stable source of income for many years