First settled in the late 1790's, Rocky Springs grew from a watering place along the Natchez Trace and took its name from the Rocky Spring. By 1860, 2,616 people lived in this area of about 25 square miles. The town proper included 3 merchants, 4 physicians, 4 teachers, 3 clergy, and 13 artisans, while the surrounding farming community included 54 planters, 28 overseers, and over 2,000 slaves who nurtured cotton, the crop that made the town possible.