De Kalb, MS

De Kalb is a town in and the county seat of Kemper County, Mississippi, United States. The 2020 census counted 877 residents. De Kalb is named after General Johann de Kalb, a Franconian-French military officer who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Mississippi Highway 16 passes through the north side of the town, leading east 11 miles to Scooba and west 28 miles to Philadelphia. East Mississippi Community College is the community college of Kemper County. That mix gives De Kalb a clear local shape within Mississippi, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. Mississippi Highway 39 passes through the center of De Kalb, leading north 19 miles to Shuqualak and south 30 miles to Meridian.