| Official Name: | Crystal Springs, Mississippi |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Logo of Crystal Springs, Mississippi.png |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Logo |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Pushpin Map: | USA |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the United States |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Mississippi |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Copiah |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 14.20 |
| Area Land Km2: | 14.06 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.14 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 5.48 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 5.43 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.05 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 4862 |
| Population Density Km2: | 345.76 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 895.56 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation M: | 143 |
| Elevation Ft: | 469 |
| Coordinates: | 31.9881°N -90.3567°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 39059 |
| Area Code: | 601 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 28-17060 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0669000 |
Crystal Springs is a city in Copiah County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,044 as of the 2010 census,[2] down from 5,873 in 2000. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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 14.2km2, of which 14.1km2 is land and 0.1km2, or 0.96%, is water.[2]
| 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% |
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. Crystal Springs was the first school in Mississippi to allow black students to attend.
The Copiah-Jefferson Regional Library operates a branch in Crystal Springs.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6]