Kemper

Formed December 31, 1833 (33^rd county)

Kemper County (8,981), De Kalb (877)

The governmental looking 1913 Beaux Arts courthouse sits on a square at Main, Bell, Hopper, and Veteran streets.  The facility is on Mississippi State Highway 39.  The courthouse is a tan brick building designed by Penn Jeffries Krouse.  The building was enlarged in 1970 and renovated in 2007.  The facility features columns, a tower, a Liberty Bell and veterans’ memorials.  Kemper County was founded on December 31, 1833 from parts of Lowndes, Rankin, and Wayne counties as the 33^rd county.  De Kalb has always been the county seat.  The county is named for American frontiersman Reuben Kemper.  De Kalb is named for German Baron Johann de Kalb. 

Kemper County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors.  Two Chancery Court Judges serve Kemper, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Neshoba, and Winston counties and Two District Court Judges serve Kemper, Clarke, Lauderdale, and Wayne counties.  The county is in eastern Mississippi on the border with Alabama.  Jackson, Mississippi is southwest and Mobile, Alabama is southeast of the county.  The county center is in De Kalb .4 miles Southeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Noxubee County and Alabama and Lauderdale, Newton, Neshoba, and Winston counties. 

The area of the county is 766 square miles.  It is 8 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 73 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 11.7 persons per square mile making it 80 out of 82 in the state.  Kemper County has 18.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 45 crosses the county north to south from Noxubee County to Lauderdale County.  Kemper County is shaped like a rectangle is a slanting eastern border.  De Kalb is located near the center of the county.  De Kalb is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 9.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced DEE KAB.  This county is in the Meridian Micropolitan Statistical Area.