Crystal Springs: The Tomato Capital of the World
Mississippi
Crystal Springs, Mississippi claims a distinction that sounds improbable for a small town in Copiah County: it earned the nickname Tomato Capital of the World for its tomato shipping. The local tomato industry began in eighteen seventy-eight when a German immigrant named Augustus Lotterhos is credited with helping ship some of the first carloads of tomatoes out of the area. The tomato was still called a love apple by many farmers at the time.
Cultivation techniques spread through the community, and the railroad connection made large-scale shipping possible. The industry grew for decades. By the Depression era it was staging a Tomato Festival and calling itself the Tomato Capital of the World.
The festival has since been revived.
