Southaven, Mississippi

Southaven, a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States, is a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, and a principal city in the Memphis metro area. The 2010 census reported a population of 48,982, making Southaven the third largest city in Mississippi. Southaven is traversed from north to south by the I-55/I-69 freeway. The city's name derives from the fact that Southaven is located south of Whitehaven, a neighborhood in Memphis.

History

Southaven began as a village when Memphis homebuilder Kemmons Wilson (founder of Holiday Inn) wished to develop a few residential subdivisions featuring small starter homes just across the Mississippi border from Whitehaven, Tennessee, an unincorporated suburb of Memphis. Whitehaven was eventually annexed by Memphis. Officially incorporated in 1980, Southaven is one of the fastest growing cities in the southeastern United States. In just 20 years, Southaven doubled its land area, while its population tripled. Like the rest of DeSoto County, Southaven's growth has been attributed mostly to the white flight from Memphis, though the percentage of blacks has risen sharply since the 2000 census resulting from black flight.