Amite

Formed February 1, 1809 (5^th county)

Amite County (12,721), Liberty (558), Gloster (901)

The red brick 1841 Antebellum courthouse was enlarged in 1935, 1969, and 1975.  It is located on a square on Main, Broad, Washington and Holmes streets.  Mississippi State Highway 24 is Main Street in the town.  William C. Harrell provided the designs.  It features a balcony and a Liberty Bell on the grounds.  The courthouse is reported to be the oldest still in use in Mississippi.  Amite County was formed on February 1, 1809 from Wilkinson County as the 5^th county with Liberty as the only county seat.  It is named for the river whose name is French for “friendship.”  The county seat named is in honor of the concept of liberty. 

Amite County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Two Chancery Court Judges serve Amite, Franklin, Pike, and Walthall counties, Two District Court Judges serve Amite, Adams, Franklin, and Wilkinson counties and a court clerk serves Amite County (judicial.) The county is in the southwest part of Mississippi.  Jackson, Mississippi is north and New Orleans, Louisiana is south of the county.  Louisiana forms its southern border.  The county center is 1.3 miles Northwest of Liberty.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Franklin, Lincoln, and Pike counties and Louisiana and Wilkinson County. 

The area of the county is 730 square miles.  It is 12 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 62 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 17.4 persons per square mile making it 73 out of 82 in the state.  Amite County has 13.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 98 clips the northeast part of the county from Lincoln County, north, to Pike County, east.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Liberty is located near the center of the county.  Gloster is on the western border of the county.  Liberty is the county seat and Gloster is the largest city.  Liberty is 4.4% of the county population while Gloster is 7.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced A-MEE.  The largest city is pronounced GLO-STER.  This county is in the McComb Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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