[3] The county was named for John M. Stone, who served as Governor of Mississippi from 1876 to 1882 and again from 1890 to 1896.

Stone County is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[5] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,333 people, 6,334 households, and 4,560 families residing in the county.

As part of that project, 23 murals, in the form of paintings and mosaic tiles, were created in cooperation with the Art Department, Perkinston campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and are on public display throughout the county.

The murals tell visual stories of Stone County's ecosystems, people, landmarks, and industries.