The history of Byhalia, Mississippi must begin with the land. Historically fertile the land has rolling hills and abundant water sources. The first inhabitants of this region the Chickasaw Indians, established their largest settlement in the Pontotoc Ridge area. Smaller villages scattered over North Mississippi with one small village founded at the current location of Byhalia cemetery.

The town of Byhalia was founded in 1838 when C.W. Rains and Wash Poe purchased Sections 35 and 36 of Township 2, Range 5 West and sold the property to the Chickasaw Land Company. This land was located at the intersection of Pigeon Roost Road now Church Street and the Collierville Chulahoma Road (now Highway 309). Pigeon Roost Road was originally the Chickasaw Trail the route followed by Hernando Desoto in 1541. Pigeon Roost Road had been improved in 1835 to accommodate the removal of the Chickasaw Nation to Oklahoma.

A national depression hit in 1873 which lasted for several years. A severe freeze in the winter of 1873 blocked traffic on the Mississippi River. Having survived the war and the Reconstruction, Byhalians coped with these two additional hardships.

In 1992, a large portion of Byhalia was proclaimed a National Historic District. Historic preservation and rich history are some of Byhalia's most marketable assets with buildings, houses and churches dating from 1860 to 1920. Though economical by today's standards, building a house in the late 1890s to 1920s was not a simple matter. In 1890, only about 1/3 of Americans owned their homes. Usually homes were inherited from parents and were shared by more than one generation.