By Susie A. Wolfe
The name Pelahatchie is believed to be a Choctaw word meaning "crooked creek" that came from the turning and twisting of the creek. In the history of the Town, there have been two spelling variations: Pelahatchie and Pelahatchee.
According to former Mayor Knox Ross, who often serves as a local historian, "The post office official spelling was with the extra 'e' for many years, and the town official spelling was with the 'i.' The post office changed this 'i,' I am guessing sometime in the 40s or 50s. If you look at old postmarks, you will see it spelled with the 'e'."
Tina Mauney, the head librarian at the Pelahatchie Library, said "From Mississippi Rails' website, I found that the post office was referred to as Pelahatchee Depot from 1859 until 1890, when the word Depot was removed and the town was called Pelahatchee. On December 1, 1950, the post office became Pelahatchie."
She said she spoke with a resident that remembers the name change but does not recall why the name was changed. "She does remember the difficulty of remembering to use the new spelling when posting letters," said Mauney. "It is possible, she thinks, that Pelahatchee Creek was changed to Pelahatchie Creek around this time, but she wasn't certain."
Mauney found no valid, confirmable explanation for why the name changed. "Our reference department in Brandon (Library) did a bit of research, too, and their conclusion was that Pelahatchie was a variant spelling of Pelahatchee. The town clerk said records of board meetings from 1950 were stored off-site."
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