What Is The Cotton Belt . The cotton belt was finally merged into union pacific on september 30, 1997. The cotton belt is the region which covers georgia, mississippi, alabama, tennessee, arkansas, texas, florida, louisiana, and texas. Saks Fifth Avenue Men Collection Woven Cotton Belt in Orange for Men Lyst from lyst.com Cotton belt operations were merged into the southern pacific in the early 1990s, but corporately the cotton belt outlasted its parent company by a little over a year. Located on the atlantic and gulf coastal plains and on the piedmont upland, it extended through north carolina, south carolina, georgia, alabama, mississippi, w tennessee, e arkansas, louisiana, e. Where cotton is grown, originally alabama, georgia, and mississippi, but now often extended to include parts of.