Zama (also, Ayres) is an unincorporated community in Attala County, Mississippi, United States."Feature Detail Report for: Zama, Mississippi." USGS. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
History A post office operated under the name Ayres from 1891 to 1908 and under the name Zama from 1918 to 1964.
Zama is named for a daughter of one of the community's founders. The first school building in Zama was constructed in 1907. The school was replaced in 1949 by a building designed by Edgar Lucian Malvaney. The community was once home to two hotels, a railroad depot, jail, bank, and multiple churches. The National Youth Administration assisted in constructing a vocational building and gymnasium in Zama in 1937 and 1938.
The W. P. Brown & Sons Lumber Company operated a band saw mill in Zama. The company maintained a railroad, the Kosciusko & Southeastern Railroad, which connected Zama to the Illinois Central Railroad in Kosciusko. The mill closed in 1931.
On April 27, 2011, a tornado hit the Zama area as part of the 2011 Super Outbreak, causing heavy tree and power line damage.NOAA Report The tornado was rated EF1, with estimated wind speeds of . The tornado destroyed a barn in its path of destruction of wide as it travelled a path of .NOAA Jackson Report
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