Forestry Department

About forestry service, 39044, Braxton, MS, US, Mississippi

Prentiss is a town and the county seat of Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,081 at the 2010 census, down from 1,158 at the 2000 census. Prentiss is located on the Longleaf Trace, Mississippi's first recreational rail trail. == History == Originally part of Lawrence County, the town was first named "Blountville", after William Blount, an early settler and merchant. Blountville High School was established in 1885 on 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land. A depot was established in Blountville when the Pearl & Leaf Rivers Railroad (later Illinois Central Railroad) was completed in 1903. That same year the town was officially established and named "Prentiss", after Prentiss Webb Berry, a prominent landowner in the area. When Jefferson Davis County was created in 1906, a special election determined that Prentiss would serve as the county seat. In 1907, Jonas Edward Johnson and his wife Bertha LaBranche Johnson established the Prentiss Institute. Situated on 40 acres (16 ha) of land, with remnants of slave quarters on the property, it was considered one of the finest schools for African Americans in Mississippi.