 kemper county is a county located in the u.s. state of mississippi. as of the 2010 census, the population was 10,456. its county seat is de kalb. the county is named in honor of reuben kemper. the county is part of the meridian, ms micropolitan statistical area. united states senator john c. stennis, who served from 1947 to 1988, was born in kemper county. another kemper county native was the legendary texas ranger captain bill mcdonald. east mississippi community college is located in kemper county in the town of scooba, at the junction of us 45 and mississippi highway 16. ==geography== according to the u.s. census bureau, the county has a total area of , of which  is land and  (0.1%) is water. ===major highways=== *20px u.s. highway 45 *20px mississippi highway 16 *20px mississippi highway 21 *20px mississippi highway 39 ===adjacent counties=== *noxubee county (north) *sumter county, alabama (east) *lauderdale county (south) *neshoba county (west) *winston county (northwest) ==demographics== {{uscensuspop |1840= 7663 |1850= 12517 |1860= 11682 |1870= 12920 |1880= 15719 |1890= 17961 |1900= 20492 |1910= 20348 |1920= 19619 |1930= 21881 |1940= 21867 |1950= 15893 |1960= 12277 |1970= 10233 |1980= 10148 |1990= 10356 |2000= 10453 |2010= 10456 |esty
1833_establishments_in_Mississippi Counties_of_Appalachia Kemper_County,_Mississippi Meridian_micropolitan_area Mississippi_counties Populated_places_established_in_1833