Oktibbeha County is a county in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census the population was 51,788. The county seat is Starkville. The county's name is derived from a Choctaw word meaning "icy creek". The Choctaw had long occupied much of this territory prior to European exploration and United States acquisition.
Starkville is a city in, and the county seat of, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, Starkville's population is 24,360, making it the 16th-most populated city in Mississippi. Starkville is the largest city in the Golden Triangle, which had a population of 175,474 in 2020, and the principal city of the Starkville-Columbus, MS CSA. Founded in 1831, the city was originally known as Boardtown for the local sawmilling operation there, but was renamed in 1837 to honor American Revolutionary War general John Stark.
Sturgis is a town in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. The population was 207 at the 2020 census.
Maben is a town in Oktibbeha and Webster counties, Mississippi. The population was 871 at the 2010 census.
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and has a total research and development budget of $239.4 million, the largest in Mississippi.
John Marshall Stone was an American politician from Mississippi. A Democrat, he served longer as governor of that state than anyone else, from 1876 to 1882 and again from 1890 to 1896. He approved a new constitution in 1890 passed by the Democratic-dominated state legislature that disfranchised most African Americans, excluding them from the political system for more than 75 years.
The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson.
The lieutenant governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking elected executive officer in the U.S. state of Mississippi, below the governor of Mississippi, and is the only official in the state to be a member of two branches of state government. The office of lieutenant governor was established when Mississippi became a state in 1817, abolished for a few decades in the first half of the 19th century, and restored later in the century. The lieutenant governor serves a four-year term with a two consecutive term limit. The current lieutenant governor is Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, who has held the office since 2020.
The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District (SOCSD), formerly Starkville Public School District, is a public school district in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, headquartered in Starkville. The district serves all children within the county, including Starkville, residents of Mississippi State University, and the other communities and rural areas countywide due to the state legislature mandated consolidation with the Oktibbeha County School District in 2015.
The Oktibbeha County School District was a public school district serving rural communities in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi (USA). The district administrative offices were in Starkville. It is now a part of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, effective July 1, 2015.
Mark Everett Keenum is an agricultural economist who is the 19th and current university president of Mississippi State University.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 6, 2012, alongside the 2012 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker won re-election to his first full term, while 92 year-old Albert N. Gore was the Democratic nominee.
William Lincoln Giles was president of Mississippi State University from 1966 to 1976.
Thomas Brent Funderburk is a long known visual artist and W. L. Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art at Mississippi State University, where he has worked since 1982. He is an active artist, known for his large-format, exuberantly hued, often naturalistic watermedia paintings. His art has been displayed in many juried exhibitions, specialized art magazines and annual publications. Funderburk is also noted for his illustrated lecture performances, curation, and workshops. Funderburk acknowledges influences by watercolor painters such as Charles E. Burchfield, Walter Inglis Anderson and Edward Reep. In 2024, he was the recipient of the Mississippi Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Visual Arts and Education.
The Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System is a public library system serving Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. The library consists of three branches with the headquarters library, the Starkville Public Library, located in Starkville, Mississippi.
Moor High School was a historically black, public secondary school in Starkville, Mississippi. The school had roots in the Pleasant Grove Community School. In 2002, Moor was closed, then consolidated and merged with Alexander, another historically black high school in Starkville, Mississippi. The new school was housed at the Moor High location. In 2015 the state caused the Oktibbeha County School District to merge with the Starkville School District, and Moor was shuttered as a high school. The school district continued to use it for some time.
Maben High School was a public secondary school located in Maben, Mississippi. Until 1970, it was a school for black children only; white children were bused 30 miles (48 km) to the white Sturgis High School. It was a part of the Oktibbeha County School District, and was later merged with Sturgis High School to form West Oktibbeha County High School
Barbara Anita Blackmon is an American lawyer and politician who served in the Mississippi State Senate, representing the 21st district from 1992 to 2004 and from 2016 to 2024. She was also the Democratic Party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2003, losing to Amy Tuck.
Mississippi Highway 389 is a state highway that runs from south to north in the U.S. State of Mississippi. MS 389 currently exists in two sections. The southern section begins at MS 182 in Starkville. The road travels north out of the city, and crosses U.S. Route 82 and MS 15. North of Starkville, the route continues northwestwards and ends at the Oktibbeha–Clay county line south of Pheba. The northern section starts at MS 46 west of Montpelier, and it travels north to cross the Natchez Trace Parkway in Chickasaw County. MS 389 ends at MS 8 in Houston.
Starkville–MSU Area Rapid Transit operates fixed-route and an ADA paratransit demand response service throughout Mississippi State University and the City of Starkville, Mississippi, United States. As of April 2021, the entire S.M.A.R.T. system is free to use. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult to ride on the system.
