Atoka

History

From the fiftieth anniversary of the Covington Leader, 1886 to 1936: The trading center for the Atoka area before the rise of the town was Portersville... With the coming of the railroad in 1872 and opening of stores in Atoka, there grew up an intense rivalry between the two towns, but Atoka's advantage of the railroad proved to be too much, and Portersville gradually died out. Today not a store or store building remains in Portersville and it passes into history... A peek into the life of John McLaughlin, a citizen of both towns, gives us some idea of what Portersville and Atoka were like: Our subject received a collegiate education at Bellenyna College, Ireland and in 1852 came to America, landing at Charleston, S. C.; then immediately went to Chester, S. C., and spent three years learning the carriage-maker's trade, when he moved to Aberdeen, Miss., and established a factory of his own, and three years later moved to Portersville, Tipton County, and continued the business five years, then went into merchandising and farming, selling goods at Portersville two years, then moved to Atoka and continued the mercantile business over ten years, and since that time has given his attention exclusively to farming and running a steam cotton-gin, which he owns. :June 1, 1796 - The Southwest Territory was admitted as the 16th state, Tennessee. United States 1837-03-1838.png|alt=Map of the states and territories of the United States as it was from March 1837 to 1838.|January 17, 1838 - Portersville incorporated. United States 1868-1876.png|alt=United States 1868-1876|March 24, 1875 - name of Portersville changed to Atoka. United States 1876-1884.png|alt= United States 1876-1884|March 19, 1883 - corporation of the town of Atoka repealed. :1911 - Atoka was reincorporated. If…

Geography

The town of Atoka is located at (35.424740, -89.782652). According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2010 the municipality had a total area of . The total area of land was and the total of water was . Atoka, Tennessee is located in Tipton County, Tennessee. The County south of Tipton County is Shelby County where the city of Memphis, Tennessee is located. Tipton County is located in the Tennessee Grand Division of West Tennessee. The map of the United States gives a view of where Tennessee is located within the contiguous United States. The Mississippi River defines the western border of the state of Tennessee. The Tennessee counties that have the Mississippi River as their western boundary are Shelby, Tipton, Lauderdale, Dyer, and Lake Counties. Atoka is located just east of the Mississippi River.

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,013
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  750
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  713
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  666
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  609
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  607
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  597
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  589

Most recent

• M 2.63 — 2026-08-04
  6 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
• M 4 — 2026-04-23
  1 km WNW of Cooter, Missouri
• M 2.52 — 2025-12-30
  12 km WNW of Newbern, Tennessee
• M 2.59 — 2025-12-03
  1 km NNW of Cooter, Missouri
• M 2.73 — 2025-11-09
  7 km SE of Ridgely, Tennessee
• M 2.92 — 2025-10-11
  4 km ENE of Steele, Missouri