Bay Springs is located in east-central Mississippi in Jasper County. At the intersection of state highways 15 and 18, near the center of the city, stands a cupola shading a natural spring that is the city's namesake.
In the small valley of these clear flowing waters, Joe Blankenship settled in the 1880's and built the sawmill that became the city's early industrial base. By 1900, the population numbered forty-six. When the Mobile-Jackson and Kansas City Railroad was built through the town in the early 1900's, lumberman L. L. Denson moved there from Lake Como and became the founder of the Municipality of Bay Springs in 1904.
Bay Springs is the county seat and largest incorporated city in Jasper County. With a population of 2,106 (after a 1997 annexation), Bay Springs makes up more than 10% of the total county population of 17,114.
As the central hub of Jasper County, the city is headquarters for the five-man Board of Supervisors which govern the county, the full-time Sheriff's Department and Jasper General Hospital. An alert well-trained medical staff care for patients in the 16 acute care medical beds and provide around-the-clock care to residents in the 110-bed nursing home. Medical care and other health-care services are supplemented by the Jasper County Health Department, located south on Highway 15.
The city is also home to the West Jasper Consolidated School District, which oversees high school, middle school, and elementary schools in Bay Springs and a facility which encompasses all grades at Stringer, a community to the south.
Recreation opportunities abound in the area. The Bienville National Forest and Tallahala Wildlife Management Area occupy the northwest corner of the county. Lake Claude Bennett, a state-operated fisheries lake, along with other watershed and private impoundments provide fishing and watersports activities. The Bay Springs Country Club features outstanding golf and tennis facilities.