Welcome to Palo Alto ...
Palo Alto is located in Clay County<1>.
Palo Alto was established in 1846.
When the people of Palo Alto refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Palo Altan<2>
Palo Alto is 270 feet [82 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Palo Alto lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Palo Alto: 662 & 471<4>
Communities Also Named Palo Alto ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 10 communities that are also named Palo Alto - they are located in California, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania (2), Texas and Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Palo Alto.
Communities near Palo Alto ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Palo Alto.
- Starkville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- West Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Aberdeen
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Houston
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Maben
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Maben is located in Oktibbeha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maben
- Population from the 2020 Census: 817 people
- Mantee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Mantee is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Woodland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Woodland is located in Chickasaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- Cedar Bluff
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Cedar Bluff is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Mhoons Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mhoons Valley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mhoons Valley
- Beasley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Beasley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Palo Alto. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Palo Alto.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Palo Alto. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Palo Alto.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Palo Alto. See our Newspapers Page for Palo Alto.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Palo Alto ...
Looking for more information about Palo Alto? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Palo Alto, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Palo Alto.
Adding Palo Alto to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Palo Alto in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Palo Alto was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Palo Alto post office opened in 1846. The Palo Alto post office closed in 1898.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Palo Alto.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Mississippi's counties, including Clay, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Palo Alto refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Palo Alto may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Palo Alto - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 662 code has been Overlayed with the 471 area code. New phone numbers in the Palo Alto area will be assigned with one of these codes: 662 or 471. As a result, placing a call in the Palo Alto area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |