Ocean Springs, Mississippi
city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States
Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Biloxi and west of Gautier. It is part of the Pascagoula metropolitan area. The population was 18,429 at the 2020 U.S. Census, down from 18,434 in 2010.
The town has a reputation as an arts community and is a popular tourist destination. The town was voted as a top 10 Happiest Seaside Town by Coastal Living in 2015 and was also voted as a top 10 Best Coastal Small Town by USA Today in 2022. Its historic and secluded down town area, with streets lined by live oak trees, is home to several art galleries, shops, restaurants, and bars.
Ocean Springs was the home town of the late Walter Inglis Anderson, a nationally renowned painter and muralist who drew inspiration from the natural coastal landscape and nearby barrier islands. The town hosts several festivals throughout the year, including its Peter Anderson Festival, one of the Southeast's premiere arts and crafts festivals.
Ocean Springs was severely damaged on August 29, 2005, by Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed many buildings along the shoreline, including the Ocean Springs Yacht Club, and the wooden replica of Fort Maurepas, and a local business owned by Luke Smith. Katrina's 28 ft (8.5 m) storm surge also destroyed the Biloxi Bay Bridge, which connected Biloxi to Ocean Springs.
The public source identifies “Ocean Springs, Mississippi” as city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ocean, Springs and Mississippi.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ocean Springs, Mississippi”, the useful work is to connect “city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1769542. VIAF identifies the subject as 242499302. The Library of Congress control number is n79149083. Authority coordinates are 30.410, -88.797. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2010, 2015 and 2022.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Ocean Springs, Mississippi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.