Harrison

Formed January 1, 1841 (57^th county)

Harrison County (208,621), Biloxi (49,442), Gulfport (72,923)

The red brick and concrete Modern courthouse in Biloxi was built in 1968.  The Gulfport Modern facility was built in 1977.  The Biloxi facility is on Martin Luther King Boulevard between Lameuse and Main streets.  United States Highway 90 is four blocks to the south of the courthouse.  The Gulfport structure is on 23^rd Avenue between 17^th and 18^th streets.  United States Highway 90 is four blocks to the south.  The Biloxi structure was designed by John T. and Leonard A. Collins.  The tan brick and concrete Gulfport building was designed by Proffer, Teague, Ashton and Osswald.  Gulfport added a Justice Court building in 2011.  There were earlier courthouses in Mississippi City and a 1903 facility in Gulfport.  Gulfport and Biloxi have both been the county seat since 1841.  The county was created on January 1, 1841 from Hancock County as the 57^th county.  It is named for United States President William Henry Harrison.  Biloxi is a Native American word for “first people.”  Gulfport is a geographical term for its location on the Gulf of Mexico. 

Harrison 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.)  Four Chancery Court Judges and Three District Court Judges serve Harrison, Hancock, and Stone counties and Three County Court Judges and a court clerk serve Harrison County (judicial.) Harrison County is on the southern coast of the state.  Jackson, Mississippi is northwest and New Orleans, Louisiana is southwest of the county.  The Gulf of Mexico forms its southern border.  The county center is in Gulfport 7.8 miles Northeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Stone and Jackson counties and the Gulf of Mexico and Hancock and Pearl River counties. 

The area of the county is 581 square miles.  It is 39 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 2 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 359.1 persons per square mile making it 2 out of 82 in the state.  Harrison County has 75.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 travels east to west in the county from Jackson County to Hancock County.  United States Highway 49 enters from the north, Stone County, and terminates.  United States Highway 90 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Jackson to Hancock counties.  The county looks like a fat scoop.  Biloxi is in the southeast corner of the county.  Gulfport is in the center of the southern coast.  Biloxi is one of the county seats.  Gulfport is the other county seat and the largest city.  Biloxi is 23.7% of the county population while Gulfport is 35.0% of the county population.  The smaller county seat is pronounced BI-LUCK-SEE.  This county is in the Gulfport-Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area.