Stone County, Mississippi

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Stone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,333.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Wiggins.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Stone County was formed from the northern portion of Harrison County on June 5, 1916.<ref>A History of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Template:Webarchive accessed January 1, 2007.</ref> 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,<ref>Stone County Template:Webarchive accessed February 18, 2010.</ref> and is still in use today, after several renovations.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.6%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demographics

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Stone County by race as of 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race	Num.	Perc.
White	13,822	75.39%
Black or African American	3,239	17.67%
Native American	79	0.43%
Asian	89	0.49%
Pacific Islander	9	0.05%
Other/Mixed	651	3.55%
Hispanic or Latino	444	2.42%

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

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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.<ref>Mississippi Senate Concurrent Resolution 643 Retrieved May 3, 2012</ref> 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.<ref>Nicole Dow. 2012. Stone County named state's mural county.Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS), Vol. 128, No, 213, page 2A, May 3, 2012.</ref>

Communities

Cities

Wiggins (county seat)

Census-designated place

Bond

Unincorporated communities

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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 in 1976. In recent elections the county has been especially friendly to Republicans; Donald Trump in 2024 earned the highest share of the vote for any Republican since Nixon in 1972.

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References

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External links

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