Stone 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 in the U.S. state of

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 18,333. Its

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 ...

is Wiggins. Stone County was formed from the northern portion of Harrison County on June 5, 1916. The county was named for John M. Stone, who served as Governor of Mississippi from 1876 to 1882 and again from 1890 to 1896. Stone County is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1918, the Stone County Courthouse was completed at a cost of $29,515.18, and is still in use today, after several renovations.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 49 * Mississippi Highway 15 * Mississippi Highway 26 * Mississippi Highway 29

Adjacent counties

* Perry County (northeast) * George County (east) * Jackson County (southeast) * Harrison County (south) * Pearl River County (west) * Forrest County (northwest)

National protected areas

* De Soto National Forest (part) * Sweetbay Bogs Preserve

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,333 people, 6,334 households, and 4,560 families residing in the county.

Arts and culture

On April 25, during the 2012 regular session of the Mississippi Legislature, Concurrent Resolution 643 was adopted by the state Senate and state House of Representatives, stating that Stone County be named and declared the ''Mural County of Mississippi''. During the previous 8 years, a Telling Trees Project was developed in Stone County to document and celebrate Stone County's history and heritage. As part of that project, 23 murals, in the form of paintings and mosaic tiles, were created in cooperation with the Art Department, Perkinston campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and are on public display throughout the county. The murals tell visual stories of Stone County's ecosystems, people, landmarks, and industries.Nicole Dow. 2012. Stone County named state's mural county.'' Sun Herald'' (Biloxi, MS), Vol. 128, No, 213, page 2A, May 3, 2012.

Communities

Cities

* Wiggins (county seat)

Census-designated place

* Bond

Unincorporated communities

* Beatrice * Big Level * McHenry * Perkinston * Ramsey Springs * Silver Run * Ten Mile *

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Education

Public school districts

* Stone County School District

Colleges

* Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston Campus

Politics

Stone County has been a Republican stronghold for decades. The last Democrat to carry it was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

in 1976. In recent elections the county has been especially friendly to Republicans;

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in 2024 earned the highest share of the vote for any Republican since Nixon in 1972.

References

External links

*
Mississippi Courthouses – Stone County
{{authority control Mississippi counties Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area 1916 establishments in Mississippi Populated places established in 1916