Pearl River

Formed January 1, 1890 (75^th county)

Pearl River County (56,144), Poplarville (2,822), Picayune (11,888)

The tan brick Neo-Classical courthouse was erected in 1918.  The courthouse is on a square on Main, Willie, Julia and Pearl streets.  United States Highway 11 passes four blocks west of the structure.  P. J. Krouse is the architect.  The structure features columns and marble walls with a veterans’ memorial on the grounds.  An Annex was added in 2020 and an Administration Building in 2010.  The county was formed on January 1, 1890 from parts of Hancock and Marion counties as the 75^th county with Poplarville as the only county seat.  There was an 1892 courthouse built in Poplarville.  The county is named for the river.  The county seat is named for settler Poplar Jim Smith.  Pearl River County was the birthplace for 1 Mississippi Governor, Theodore G. Bilbo. 

The area of the county is 812 square miles.  It is 4 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 13 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 69.1 persons per square mile making it 20 out of 82 in the state.  Pearl River County has 26.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 59 passes through the county northeast to southwest from Lamar County to Hancock County.  United States Highway 11 parallels Interstate Highway 59 from Lamar to Hancock counties.  The county is shaped like a small letter r.  Poplarville is in the northern third of the county.  Picayune is in the southwest corner of the county.  Poplarville is the county seat and Picayune is the largest city.  Poplarville is 5.0% of the county population while Picayune is 21.2% of the county population. 

Pearl River 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 serve Pearl River, Forrest, Lamar, Marion, and Perry counties, Three District Court Judges serve Pearl River, Jefferson Davis, Lamar, Lawrence, and Marion counties and a court clerk serves Pearl River County (judicial.) The county is in the southern part of Mississippi on the border with Louisiana.  Jackson, Mississippi is northwest and New Orleans, Louisiana is southwest of the county.  The county center is 6.3 miles Southwest of Poplarville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lamar, Forrest, Stone, Harrison, and Hancock counties and Louisiana and Marion County.  The largest city is pronounced PIK-KAEN.  This county is in the Picayune Micropolitan Statistical Area.