thumb|Mural in Crystal Springs, Mississippi
Crystal Springs is a city in Copiah County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 4,862. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
U.S. Route 51 runs through the northwest part of Crystal Springs, intersecting Interstate 55 at the latter's Exit 72. I-55 leads north to Jackson, the state capital, and south to Brookhaven.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.96%, is water.
Climate
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Crystal Springs had a population of 4,862. The median age was 39.2 years. 23.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 82.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 80.2 males age 18 and over.
89.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 10.8% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,843 households and 982 families in the city. Of all households, 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. 32.2% were married-couple households, 18.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 42.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|White (non-Hispanic)
|1,464
|30.11%
|-
|Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|3,007
|61.85%
|-
|Native American
|1
|0.02%
|-
|Asian
|16
|0.33%
|-
|Pacific Islander
|4
|0.08%
|-
|Other/Mixed
|108
|2.22%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino
|262
|5.39%
|}
Education
Crystal Springs is served by the Copiah County School District. Copiah Academy is a local private school in the area. Copiah-Lincoln Community College is located in Wesson. The Copiah-Jefferson Regional Library operates a branch in Crystal Springs.
Controversies
On February 2, 1922, Will Thrasher was lynched, the first lynching in Copiah County in 20 years.
Civil rights–era violence related to passage of civil rights legislation in 1964 and 1965, led the armed Deacons for Defense and Justice to established centers in both Crystal Springs and nearby Hazlehurst, in 1966 and 1967. They acted to provide physical protection for African-American protesters who were working with the NAACP on a commercial boycott of white merchants to force integration of stores and employment, to gain jobs for African Americans at places where they were patrons. Eventually the protesters won the removal of discriminatory practices at stores and African Americans gained some jobs in these local businesses.
In 2012, the First Baptist Church denied a black couple permission to be married there after objections from church members. The pastor performed the wedding at a different church.
Notable people
- Hulette F. Aby, former attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Dexter Allen, blues guitarist
- Bruce M. Bailey, author and humorist
- Joseph W. Bailey, U.S. senator from Texas
- Percy Bland, mayor of Meridian, Mississippi
- Tom Funchess, former professional football offensive tackle
- Larry Grantham, American Football League linebacker and member of the *New York Jets (Super Bowl III champions)
- White Graves, former professional football defensive back
- Pat Harrison, a Democratic member of the *U.S. Congress in the 1920s and 1930s
- Anita C. Hill, Lutheran minister
- Tommy Johnson, Delta blues musician
- George Kinard, former professional football guard
- Phil Redding, former Major League Baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
- Hunter Renfroe, professional baseball player
- Alton D. Slay, four-star general in the United States Air Force
- Malcolm Taylor, former professional football defensive end
See also
- List of cities in Mississippi