Copiah

Formed January 21, 1823 (19^th county)

Copiah County (28,371), Hazlehurst (3,619), Crystal Springs (4,856)

The pleasant domed tan brick Classical Revival facility was built in 1902 on Caldwell Street between Gallatin and Downing streets.  United States Highway 51 is Caldwell Street in the town.  J. Riely Gordon is the building designer.  The courthouse was remodeled in 1934, enlarged in 1953 and renovated in 1974 and 2008.  The facility features a dome and rotunda and veteran memorials.  A Chancery Courthouse augments the courthouse from 2000.  Copiah County was established on January 21, 1823 from parts of Franklin and Hinds counties as the 19^th county with Hazlehurst as the only county seat.  Its name is Native American for “calling panther.”  Hazlehurst is named for railroad engineer George Hazlehurst. 

Copiah County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  One Chancery Court Judge serves Copiah and Lincoln counties, One District Court Judge serves Copiah, Claiborne, and Jefferson counties and a court clerk serve Copiah County (judicial.) The county is in southwest Mississippi.  Jackson, Mississippi is directly north of the county.  The county center is 3.7 miles Northwest of Hazlehurst.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Hinds, Rankin, Simpson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Claiborne counties. 

The area of the county is 777 square miles.  It is 6 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 30 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 36.5 persons per square mile making it 47 out of 82 in the state.  Copiah County has 38.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 55 passes north to south through the county from Hinds County to Lincoln County.  United States Highway 51 parallels Interstate Highway 55 from Hinds to Lincoln counties.  The county is overall rectangular.  Hazlehurst is in the eastern half of the county.  Crystal Springs is in the northeast corner of the county.  Hazlehurst is the county seat and Crystal Springs is the largest city.  Hazlehurst is 12.8% of the county population while Crystal Springs is 17.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KOE-PEE-A.  The county seat is pronounced HAE-ZEL-HERST.  This county is in the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.