Petal is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, along the Leaf River. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 10,454 in the 2010 census.The International Checker Hall of Fame was located in Petal until September 29, 2007, when 20,000 square feet of the 35,000-square-foot building caught fire. On June 23, 2004, Sports Illustrated entitled Petal as "Sports Illustrated Sportstown for Mississippi".Petal was extensively damaged by an EF3 tornado on January 21, 2017.