Welcome to Petal ...

The city of Petal is located in Forrest County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Petal, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was on a map dated 1911.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Petal has a population of 10,644 people<2> (see below for details).

Petal is 200 feet [61 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Petal lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for Petal: (601) & (769)<4>

The ZIP code for Petal: 39465<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Petal had an population of 10,644 people. This is an increase of 1.82% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 40.44% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Petal had a population of 10,454 people (or 13.95% of the total population of Forrest County). This makes Petal the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Petal represents 0.35% of the total population of Mississippi (which has 2,967,297 people), making it the state's 41st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 10,454 people, the population of Petal increased 37.93% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 7,579 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Petal.

Communities near Petal ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Petal.

• Ellisville
  (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellisville
  • Ellisville is located in Jones County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,551 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ellisville <6>
• Purvis
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Purvis have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purvis
  • Purvis is located in Lamar County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,398 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Purvis <6>
• Sumrall
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumrall
  • Sumrall is located in Lamar County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,926 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumrall <6>
• Richton
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richton
  • Richton is located in Perry County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richton <6>
• New Augusta
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Augusta have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Augusta
  • New Augusta is located in Perry County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 593 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Augusta <6>
• Goodluck
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
  • Goodluck is located in Forrest County
• West Hattiesburg
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Hattiesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
  • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
• Lux
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
  • Lux is located in Covington County
• McLaurin
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
  • McLaurin is located in Forrest County
• Ovett
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovett
  • Ovett is located in Jones County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Petal. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Petal.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Petal. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Petal.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Petal. See our Newspapers Page for Petal.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Petal ...

Looking for more information about Petal? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Petal, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Petal.

Adding Petal to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Petal in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Petal was on a map titled Map of Mississippi (from Rand McNally, 1911).

We also found Petal on a map titled Shell Oil Road Map for Mississippi (1956).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Petal.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Petal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Forrest County: www.co.forrest.ms.us/

The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/