Perry County, Mississippi

Perry County
County
Perry County courthouse New Augusta
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 31°10′N 88°59′W / 31.17°N 88.99°W / 31.17; -88.99
Country	United States
State	Mississippi
Founded	1820
Named for	Oliver Hazard Perry
Seat	New Augusta
Largest town	Richton
Area
• Total	650 sq mi (1,700 km2)
• Land	647 sq mi (1,680 km2)
• Water	3.0 sq mi (8 km2)  0.5%
Population  (2020)
• Total	11,511
• Density	18/sq mi (6.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	4th

Perry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,511.^[1] The county seat is New Augusta.^[2] The county is named after the War of 1812 naval hero, Oliver Hazard Perry.

Perry County is part of the Hattiesburg, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Until 1906, the county seat was the old town of Augusta, near the center of the county on the east bank of the Leaf River. At Old Augusta, the outlaw James Copeland was executed by hanging on October 30, 1857.^[3] Old Augusta remains a small village today. New Augusta, two miles south of Old Augusta, was made the county seat of Perry County, because it was situated on the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City Railroad.^[4]