[1] As early as 1823, the rocks that would later become the Tallahatta Formation was referred to as "Buhrstone", a type of porous limestone.

[3] Other terms used to describe this rock were "Siliceous Claiborne" in Mississippi and the "Choctaw buhrstone" in Alabama.

It was originally considered a member of the Wilcox Formation in Mississippi and is dominated by coarse grained, cross bedded sand.

It was considered part of the Winona Formation, but was separated out due to its low glauconite concentration and the presence of an unconformity.

[2][3] The sand grains grow steadily coarser from top to bottom, and is thought to represent a marine regression depositional environment.