Ripley is a city in Tippah County, Mississippi. The population was 5,478 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Tippah County.Colonel William Clark Falkner, great-grandfather of authors William Faulkner and John Faulkner, was a prominent resident of Ripley in the mid to late-19th century. W.C. Falkner's exploits in and around Ripley served as the model for Faulkner's character of Colonel John Sartoris.Ripley is located in the Hills region of North Mississippi, an important region for the birth of American music, most notably the hill country blues.