Founded in the late 1800s, the town is named after prominent businessman and railway official William H. Henning.

The infamous Battle of Fort Pillow, a Civil War victory for the Confederates, took place near Henning.

Here, nearly 300 black troops serving in the Union Army were massacred after surrendering by Confederates under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Union survivors’ accounts, later supported by a federal investigation, concluded that African-American troops were massacred by Forrest’s men after surrendering.

[7] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2), all land.

Henning is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 871 people, 491 households, and 315 families residing in the town.