Pearl, MS
| Pearl, Mississippi | ||
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| City | ||
| City of Pearl | ||
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| Nickname(s): The Pearl of the South | ||
| Motto(s): "The City Creating Its Own Future" | ||
 Location in Rankin County, Mississippi |
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 Location of Mississippi in the United States |
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 Pearl, Mississippi
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| Coordinates: 32°16′19″N 90°06′19″W / 32.27194°N 90.10528°WCoordinates: 32°16′19″N 90°06′19″W / 32.27194°N 90.10528°W | ||
| Country | United States | |
| State | Mississippi | |
| County | Rankin | |
| Founded | 1865 | |
| Incorporation | 1973 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Weak Mayor-Council | |
| • Mayor | Jake Windham (R) | |
| • Board of Aldermen | David Luckett (R) - Dist. 1 Michael Sartor (R) - Dist. 2 Johnny Steverson (R) - Dist. 3 Casey Foy (R) - Dist. 4 James Thompson (I) - Dist. 5 Gavin Gill (R) - Dist. 6 John McHenry (R) - At-large |
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| Area | ||
| • Total | 22.0 sq mi (57 km2) | |
| • Land | 21.8 sq mi (56.5 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) | |
| Elevation | 276 ft (84.1 m) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 25,092 | |
| • Estimate (2016) | 26,485 | |
| • Density | 1,100/sq mi (440/km2) | |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | |
| Zip Code(s); physical locations | 39208 | |
| Zip Code(s); U.S. P.O. boxes | 39288 | |
| Area code(s) | 601, 769 | |
| FIPS code | 28-55760 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 0675537 | |
| Website | http://www.cityofpearl.com | |
| For additional city data see: City-Data | ||
Pearl is a city in Rankin County, Mississippi located on the east side of the Pearl River from the state capital of Jackson. The population was 25,092 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Today, Pearl is a growing community; it is the 13th largest city in the state and the largest city in Rankin County.
After the American Civil War, the bottomlands of the Pearl River were developed for agriculture. Population was sparse until the mid-1900s, when development of the state capital of Jackson in Hinds County to the west spilled over into this county. New residents and industry settled here. Thereafter, growth in the area came from the urban expansion of the capital, control of flood threats from the Pearl River, and improved transportation due to accessible interstates and Jackson-Evers International Airport.
On September 16, 1968, a community meeting was held to discuss the incorporation of Pearl, with all but 6 of the 657 attending residents favoring incorporation. A "Boundary Committee" proposed several different possible boundaries a little more than a month later. The following January the community voted for a 11 square miles (28 km2) boundary that included the Pearl River to Airport Road, excluding East Jackson and all areas south of Interstate 20 except Cunningham Heights and Grandview Heights. A majority at that meeting also agreed on naming the city "Pearl", in preference to the also-proposed "Riverview" and "Brightsville."
Pearl was affected by the violence of the Ku Klux Klan, and was white-only for most of the 20th Century. In 1970, Pearl had 9,613 white residents and 10 black residents who were probably live-in servants to white households. By the 1990s Pearl had become more racially integrated, and by 2010 blacks made up 23% of the population.
The first mayor, Harris Harvey, was elected, as well as council members Jimmy Joe Thompson, W.D. McAlpin, James Netherland, Ophelia Byrd, Mack C Atwood, W.L. Maddox, and Bobby Joe Davis. With the Mississippi Supreme Court ruling of June 5, 1973, the incorporation could proceed. A week later, the state legislature issued a charter. On June 29, 1973 Governor William Winter presided over the first annual Pearl Day Celebration, with the swearing in of the city's new officials, who met for the first time on July 3, 1973.
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