Tallula, Mississippi should not be confused with Tallulah, Louisiana.
| Tallula, Mississippi | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | Mississippi#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Tallula |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Mississippi |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Issaquena |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2000 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Coordinates: | 32.7794°N -91.1144°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 678549[1] |
Tallula is an unincorporated community in Issaquena County, Mississippi, United States. Tallula was the county seat from 1848 to 1871.
Tallula is a name derived from the Choctaw language purported to mean either (sources vary) "bell" or "to break off".[2] The settlement was originally located on a spot along the Mississippi River called Tallula Bend.[3]
Tallula was the Issaquena county seat from 1848 to 1871. Runaway slaves captured in Issaquena were held in the Tallula jail until they were claimed by their legal owners or sold for jail fees.[4] In 1856 the sheriff of Issaquena County offered a $250 reward for the recapture of a "negro stealer" named John Guydon who "broke jail" at Tallula.[5]
The county seat moved to Mayersville, 10miles north, in 1871.[6] Over time, the changing course of the Mississippi "left Island No. 95 on the Louisiana shore, and Tallula Bend moved slowly downstream until the town of Tallula lost its landing and became an inland village."
Charles C. Diggs, Sr., the first African-American Democrat elected to the Michigan Senate, was born in Tallula.[7]