Pickens, MS

Pickens is a town in Holmes County, Mississippi, on the west side of the Big Black River near the county's southeastern edge. U.S. Route 51 runs through the town, with Mississippi Highway 17 following it before branching toward Camden and Lexington. The river, roads, and flat agricultural country give Pickens a clear place on the map between Goodman, Canton, and the communities across the water in Attala County. The town was named for landowner James Pickens and incorporated in 1858.

Pickens's story also carries the wider history of central Mississippi's agricultural Black Belt. Cotton, cattle, timber, and school districts have long tied the town to the surrounding county, while the Big Black River marks an eastern edge that is both geographic and historical. Goodman-Pickens Elementary and Holmes County Central High School connect the town with neighboring communities. The town's 1919 lynching of an African American World War I veteran remains part of its difficult historical record. Pickens is small, but its river crossing, highway junctions, and county connections give it a distinct foothold in central Mississippi.