Pearl is a city in Rankin County, Mississippi, sitting on the east side of the Pearl River from the state capital, Jackson. The population was 26,000 in 2018.
After the American Civil War, the bottomlands of the Pearl River were developed for agriculture. The population was sparse until the mid-1900s when the development of the state capital, 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.
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, By the 1990s Pearl had become more racially integrated, and by 2010 blacks made up 23% of the population
Pearl is served by Jackson-Evers International Airport (IATA: JAN) in Jackson, with direct flights from a number of major cities by Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines (including Atlantic Southeast Airlines), United Airlines, and American Eagle Airlines. Flights from regional hubs (Charlotte, Memphis, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago (Midway and O'Hare), Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Detroit).
Amtrak - City of New Orleans offers service between New Orleans and Chicago in nearby Jackson's newly refurbished Union Station as a passenger stop.
Greyhound offers buses from Union Station in nearby downtown Jackson, 300 W. Capital St.
Pearl is just east of the junction of Interstate 55 (running north and south) and Interstate 20 (running east and west) runs through the city. New Orleans, LA is about 190 miles south of Pearl; Memphis, TN. is about 220 miles north; Dallas, TX is about 300 miles west; Atlanta, GA is about 320 miles east.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division