| County: | Stone County |
| State: | Mississippi |
| Founded: | 1916 |
| Seat Wl: | Wiggins |
| Largest City Wl: | Wiggins |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 448 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 445 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 2.6 |
| Area Percentage: | 0.6 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 18333 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Web: | www.stonecountyms.gov |
| Ex Image: | StoneCountyCourthouse 1.JPG |
| Ex Image Cap: | Stone County Courthouse in Wiggins |
| District: | 4th |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Named For: | John M. Stone |
Stone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,333.[1] Its county seat is Wiggins.[2] Stone County was formed from the northern portion of Harrison County on June 5, 1916.[3] 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,[4] and is still in use today, after several renovations.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (0.6%) is water.[5]
| 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% |
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.[8] 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.[9]