Oktibbeha County, Mississippi

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Oktibbeha County, Mississippi

Overview
Oktibbeha County is in east-central Mississippi. The county seat and largest city is Starkville. The county’s name comes from a Choctaw phrase meaning “icy creek.” Mississippi State University is located in the county. It is part of the Golden Triangle region, together with Clay and Lowndes counties.

Geography
The county covers about 462 square miles (1,200 square kilometers): roughly 458 square miles of land and 3.7 square miles of water. The area sits mainly in fertile uplands with parts in the Flatwoods and Black Belt regions. The time zone is Central.

Population
As of 2020, about 51,788 people lived in Oktibbeha County, with a population density around 113 people per square mile. The racial makeup is roughly 57% White, 35% Black or African American, with smaller numbers of Asian and other races. About 63% of people live in urban areas and 37% in rural areas.

History
The area was long inhabited by the Choctaw people before European settlers arrived. The Choctaw ceded the land to the United States in 1830. The county seat was originally called Boardtown and later renamed Starkville in 1835. After the Civil War, there were violent attacks by groups seeking to suppress Black voting. Mississippi State University began in 1878 as a land-grant college. In the 1920s, Rosenwald Schools were built to improve education for African Americans, including the Oktibbeha County Training School. Public schools were segregated until 1970, when integration occurred. In 2013, Oktibbeha County schools were consolidated with the Starkville district. The county has two private schools: Starkville Academy (founded 1969) and Starkville Christian School (founded 1995). Politically, the county voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and Joe Biden in 2020, with a shift toward the Republican candidate in 2024. Archaeological sites near Starkville show thousands of years of habitation, including mounds listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Education and communities
The county is served by the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District and the Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System. The campus of Mississippi State University sits in the county, advancing the area’s growth and making Starkville the largest city in the Golden Triangle. The region is also served by East Mississippi Community College.