Jackson, MS Summary

Jackson, in the state’s mid-region, has its origins in a trading post built late in the 1600s by French-Canadian Louis Le Fleur. Known first as Le Fleur’s Bluff, it was renamed for the nation’s seventh president, Andrew Jackson, and in 1821 was appointed Mississippi’s second capital—Natchez (see entry on page 373) was the first. With a population of 202,062, Jackson is Mississippi’s largest city. Recently, however, many businesses have relocated to the suburbs, leaving the downtown district a mere shell of its former glory. But there are still numerous points of interest.

Jackson flourished during the antebellum era and the expansion of the southern railroad to the key cities of Vicksburg and New Orleans, and today is the spiritual bastion of the Confederacy. During the Civil War it was occupied, then torched (in 1863) by General William T. Sherman’s Union troops. The original 1833 State Capitol was one of the few of Jackson’s buildings to be spared; it now houses the State Historical Museum, where displays include an impressive collection of Civil War artifacts. The new Capitol, built in 1903, is on High Street.

Jackson is home to three African-American colleges, including the prestigious Jackson State University. The Smith-Robertson Museum and Cultural Center (Bloom Street), originally the first public school for Jackson’s black population, pays homage to Mississippi’s rich African-American culture as it chronicles local history from slavery to the mass migration north following the Civil War. The State Historical Museum, as well as Jackson State University, feature extensive exhibits focusing on civil rights.

The most telling event of Jackson’s racial conflict during the 1960s was the murder in June 1963 of Mississippi NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) branch leader Medgar Evers, in the driveway of his home. Located at 2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Drive, the house remains sheltered from the public; however, a bronzed memorial in honor of the slain activist has been erected on Medgar Evers Boulevard at Sunset Drive. It took 30 years for Evers’s killer, Byron de la Beckwith, to be successfully convicted of his assassination.

The Agriculture and Forestry Museum on Lakeland Drive provides a living history exhibit of a re-created 1920s Mississippi community and a pre-Civil War homestead. Adjacent is the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

The Eudora Welty Library is Jackson’s cultural jewel and, with the Mississippi Writers Room, showcases the works of Mississippi literati such as William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Richard Wright, and Shelby Foote. Eudora Welty lived in the Jackson suburb of Belhaven in the house across from Belhaven College campus, where she spent most of her long life.

Jackson’s quirkiest attraction is probably the Dixie National Rodeo and Livestock Show, held mid-February, complete with bronco-busters and a covered-wagon parade. Other notable events include the annual Martin Luther King Day in January and the Mississippi State Fair in October.

Jackson is Mississippi’s transportation hub, linked by road to all major centers in the state.

Jackson Airport is off I-20, 10 miles from downtown. Buses link the city with Memphis and New Orleans, and there is also rail service.