Pike County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located on the southwestern border of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,324. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

. Pike County is named for explorer

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...

. Pike County is part of the McComb, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Pike County was formed from Marion County by an act of the Territorial General Assembly on December 9, 1815. Holmesville was selected as the county seat on December 11, 1816; it was named in honor of Major Andrew Hunter Holmes, an army officer killed in the War of 1812. In 1873 Magnolia was voted in as the new county seat. The county was devoted to agriculture and is still mostly rural.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water.

Major highways

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

* U.S. Highway 51 * U.S. Highway 98 * Mississippi Highway 24 * Mississippi Highway 44 * Mississippi Highway 48 *

Mississippi Highway 570 Mississippi Highway 570 (MS 570) is a two-segment state highway in the U.S. state of Mississippi that travels in the vicinity of McComb, Mississippi, McComb. The western segment runs from U.S. Route 98 in Mississippi, U.S. Route ...

* Mississippi Highway 583

Adjacent counties

* Lincoln County (north) * Walthall County (east) * Washington Parish, Louisiana (southeast) * Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana (south) * Amite County (west)

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 40,324 people, 14,404 households, and 8,528 families residing in the county.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * McComb

Towns

* Osyka *

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

Census-designated place

* Fernwood

Unincorporated communities

* Chatawa * Holmesville * Kirkville * Pricedale *

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

* Sherman

Politics

Pike County is a swing county in presidential elections; since 2000 it has voted Democratic four times and Republican three times.

Education

Pike County has three school districts: * McComb School District * North Pike School District * South Pike School District Pike County is in the district of Southwest Mississippi Community College.

References

External links

*
Mississippi Courthouses – Pike County
{{authority control Mississippi counties McComb micropolitan area 1815 establishments in Mississippi Territory Populated places established in 1815 Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties in Mississippi