Crystal City is a city in eastern Jefferson County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States and is a suburb of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. The population was 4,855 at the 2010 census.U.S. Census Bureau - Crystal City
U.S. Census Bureau It was 4,740 at the 2020 census. Crystal City and its neighbor Festus are often collectively known as the "Twin Cities".

History

Crystal City was originally called New Detroit. A post office called Crystal City has been in operation since 1872. In the 1880s,

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company PPG Industries, Inc. is an American ''Fortune'' 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it ...

opened a glass manufacturing plant, which is the origin of the city's name. Currently, the PPG plant property remains empty and undeveloped. It was purchased by Wings Enterprises in the mid-2000s with the intentions of constructing an

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

on the property. In the early 2000s, the state of Missouri forced

Doe Run Company The Doe Run Resources Corporation, known by the trade name The Doe Run Company, is a privately held natural resources company and global producer of lead, copper, and zinc concentrates. It owns four mills, six mines and a lead battery recycling p ...

to purchase 160 homes in

Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...

after it was found over 56% of children within a quarter-mile (0.4 km) of the plant had high levels of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

in their

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

. This prompted greater concern when Crystal City engaged in discussions over building a $1 billion dollar iron-ore smelter on the lands of the abandoned factory.

Geography

Crystal City is located adjacent to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

floodplain to the east and the city of Festus to the west. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 4,855 people, 1,894 households, and 1,228 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 2,078 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.0% of the population. There were 1,894 households, of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.2% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age in the city was 37.1 years. 25.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.9% were from 25 to 44; 24.2% were from 45 to 64; and 16.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 4,247 people, 1,622 households, and 1,111 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,769 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.11%

, 5.34%

, 0.26% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.49% of the population. There were 1,622 households, out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were

living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,117, and the median income for a family was $45,288. Males had a median income of $41,111 versus $23,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $17,816. About 12.6% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Crystal City 47 Public Schools operates one elementary school and Crystal City High School. The town has a lending library, the Crystal City Public Library.

Notable people

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

, former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player and

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

* Margaret B. Kelly, former Missouri State Auditor * Danny Kladis, auto racer * Dan LaRose, football player *

Tom Santschi Paul William "Tom" Santschi (October 24, 1880 – April 9, 1931) was an American leading man and character actor of the silent film era. Personal life Santschi was born in Missouri to Paul Santschi, a Swiss immigrant, and Margaret Kern, a nat ...

(Paul William Santschi), silent film actor

References

External links

Crystal City's Website

* Historic maps of Crystal City in th
Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection
at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

{{authority control Missouri populated places on the Mississippi River Cities in Jefferson County, Missouri Defunct glassmaking companies Cities in Missouri