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Old Capitol MuseumCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
Originally called State House, the Old Capitol building has filled three purposes in its long history. From 1839 to 1903 it served as the state capitol, between 1917 and 1959 it housed government offices, and from 1961 to the present it has become an award-winning museum enshrining Mississippi's history. The exhibits are arranged in several categories, the highlight being 'Mississippi 1500 to 1800' which depicts the era when Americans, Europeans and Africans first encountered
each other in the state, drastically altering the lives and society of the Native Americans who lived here. Full-scale dioramas illustrate the importance of cotton in the state's development, and interactive audio-visual experiences explain the profound effects of the Civil War on Mississippi. *Note: due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina the Old Capitol Museum has been closed until further notice.*
Address: 100 S. State Street
Phone Number: (601) 576 6920
Email Address: ocmuseum@mdah.state.ms.us
Website: www.mdah.state.ms.us/museum
Hours: Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm; Saturday 9.30am to 4.30pm; Sunday 12.30pm to 4.30pm
Admission: Free
The Governor's MansionCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
The Mississippi Governor's Mansion in downtown Jackson is the second oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States. It was first occupied in 1842 by Governor Tilghman Tucker and his family, having just been built in the Greek Revival style, the most popular style of the period. Today architectural historians consider the mansion one of the best surviving examples of this style in the country, and in 1975 the building was designated a National Historic Landmark. The historic section of the mansion, furnished in period Empire style, is open to the public.
Address: 300 East Capitol Street
Phone Number: (601) 359 6421
Website: www.mdah.state.ms.us/museum/mansion.html
Hours: Guided tours every half-hour between 9.30am and 11am, Tuesday to Friday. The mansion may be closed on occasion for official state functions and is closed during the last two weeks of December. The mansion grounds are closed to the public
Admission: Free
Manship House MuseumCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
The home of Charles Henry Manship, Civil War mayor of Jackson, and his large family has been restored as a museum depicting life in Mississippi in the mid-19th century. The house was built in Gothic Revival cottage style in 1857, and was unpretentious compared to the mansions for which the south is so famous. Today the house still stands in its original setting of trees and shrubs, painted in its original olive and cream color with an authentic shingled roof. Manship was a decorative painter and craftsman and much of the interior features his handiwork, all restored or reproduced. The rooms have been furnished with some original objects.
Address: 420 East Fortification Street
Phone Number: (601) 961 4724
Email Address: manship@mdah.state.ms.us
Website: www.mdah.state.ms.us/museum/manship.html
Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm; Saturday 10am to 4pm
Russell C. Davis PlanetariumCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson's impressive planetarium is one of the largest in the world, with a huge hemispheric wrap-around screen that presents regular Sky Shows on astronomy, astronauts and space exploration. The planetarium, situated in the downtown cultural district, also presents laser light concerts featuring the music of contemporary and classic rock and roll artists combined with the imagery of a powerful indoor laser system, and astronomy hobby courses.
Address: 201 East Pascagoula Street
Phone Number: (601) 960 1550
Email Address: info@thedavisplanetarium.com
Website: www.thedavisplanetarium.com
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm, Friday 8.30am to 9.30pm, Saturday 12.30pm to 9.30pm, Sunday 1.30pm to 5pm. Show and film schedule varies
Admission: Sky show: $5.50 (adults), $3 (children). Laser concert and Large-format films: $6.50 (adults), $4 (children)
Mississippi Museum of ArtCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
The State's largest art museum, the Mississippi Museum of Art in downtown Jackson houses more than 4,000 works, including the world's largest collection by Mississippi artists. The museum also hosts numerous visiting exhibitions.
Address: 201 East Pascagoula Street
Phone Number: (601) 960 1515
Email Address: mmart@netdoor.com
Website: www.msmuseumart.org
Hours: Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday 12pm to 5pm
Admission: $5 (adults); $3 (children)
Farish Street Historical DistrictCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
The 125-acre neighborhood bounded by Mill Street, Amite Street, Fortification Street and Jackson Street near downtown, known as Farish District, is one of the few historically black districts, built by former slaves, listed on the national register. It takes its name from Walter Farish, a freed slave who settled on the northeast corner of Davis and Farish Streets. The district was once the center of political, religious, economic, educational and entertainment activities for the black professionals and craftsmen who lived in the area's 700-odd buildings, most dating from between 1890 and 1930. Among the more notable buildings are 229 East Church Street, former home of Dr Sidney Redmond, wealthy and successful businessman, and the Farish Street Baptist Church. Renovation in the district is ongoing and private home ownership is being encouraged in an effort at urban renewal.
Phone Number: (601) 949 4000
Website: www.farishstreet.com
Vicksburg National Military ParkCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
The Vicksburg National Military Park commemorates one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War: the campaign, siege and defense of the city of Vicksburg, 44 miles (71km) west of Jackson in Mississippi. Vicksburg was under siege for 47 days in 1863 as confederate forces vainly tried to defend the city high on the bluff guarding the Mississippi River. The battlefield at Vicksburg is in a good state of preservation and visitors can explore 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles (32km) of reconstructed trenches and earthworks, an antebellum home, 144 cannon emplacements, the restored Union gunboat, USS Cairo, and the Vicksburg National Cemetery. While in Vicksburg don't miss a riverboat ride on the mighty Mississippi and a visit to the River City Blues Museum in Clay Street, with the largest blues collection on public display in the world.
Phone Number: (601) 636 0583 (Visitor center)
Website: www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm
Hours: Visitor center open daily 8am to 5pm
Admission: $8 per vehicle (valid for 7 days), or $4 per person per day
Elvis Presley ParkCity/Region: Jackson, Mississippi
The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, was born in Tupelo, northern Mississippi in 1935 in a humble home where he began his meteoric rise to fame. The simple two-room house where Elvis drew his first breath is now contained in a park, which has become a place of pilgrimage for thousands of fans every day. The city of Tupelo has other attractions too to make a trip north of Jackson worthwhile. Elvis Presley Park includes not only the period-furnished house, but also a museum, memorial chapel, gift shop and a life-size statue of the legend, aged 13, as he was when he moved from Tupelo to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family.
Address: 306 Elvis Presley Drive, Tupelo
Phone Number: (662) 841 1245
Email Address: info@elvispresleybirthplace.com
Website: www.elvispresleybirthplace.com
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.30pm (until 5pm from October to April); Sunday 1pm to 5pm
Admission: House and Museum: $7 (adults), $3.50 (children). Separate tickets are also available
Historic HousesCity/Region: Natchez
The most intact antebellum estate in the United States is the magnificent Melrose, owned and operated by the National Park Service in its grounds in the Natchez National Historical Park. Melrose was built in 1849 and still features its original hand-painted canvas flooring. The house is open daily with tours on the hour. The gracious Monmouth, built in 1818 at 36 Melrose Avenue, was the home of John Quitman, twice governor of Mississippi as well as US senator and congressman. The house and its striking formal garden is open daily. Longwood in Lower Woodville Road was built around 1860 and is the largest and most elaborate octagonal house in the United States. Dunleith, dating from 1856, is the only house in Mississippi completely encircled by a colossal colonnade. It is sited at 84 Homochitto Street, on top of a rise on the edge of a 40-acre park. Numerous other houses are open to the public, and make popular venues for weddings.
Phone Number: Natchez Pilgrimage Tours: (601) 446 6631 or (800) 647 6742
Website: www.natchezpilgrimage.com
Hours: Melrose daily 9am to 4pm; Monmouth daily 9.30am to 11.45am, 2pm to 4.15pm; Longwood daily 10am to 4pm; Dunleith daily 9am to 4.30pm
Admission: Melrose $8, Longwood $8 (adults), $4 (children), Dunleith $6
Grand Village of the Natchez IndiansCity/Region: Natchez
The Grand Village was the main ceremonial center of the Natchez Indians, who inhabited southwest Mississippi between AD700 and 1730. Their culture reached a peak in the mid-1500s, when French explorers found the Grand Village and began to settle in the area. Eventually the Natchez were forced to abandon their land. The 128-acre site of the Grand Village is today managed by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, who have excavated and rebuilt two of the ceremonial mounds at the site. Entry to the village is gained through Jefferson Davis Boulevard within the Natchez city limits. The site features a museum, a reconstructed Natchez Indian house, three ceremonial mounds (Great Sun's Mound, Temple Mound and the Abandoned Mound), a nature trail and a visitor's center.
Address: 400 Jefferson Davis Boulevard
Phone Number: (601) 446 6502
Email Address: gvni@mdah.state.ms.us
Website: www.mdah.state.ms.us
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm; Sunday 1.30pm to 5pm
Admission: Free
ChurchesCity/Region: Natchez
Natchez features a collection of architecturally valuable historic churches of various denominations, all located in the central city area. Among them is St Mary's in South Union Street, the oldest Catholic building in Mississippi, built in Gothic Revival style back in 1840. The Trinity Episcopal Church in South Commerce Street is the oldest church in Natchez, having been built in 1822 but remodeled in 1838. The interior of this church features two rare stained-glass windows designed and installed by the renowned Louis Comfort Tiffany. Also notable is the First Presbyterian church in South Pearl Street, built in the Federal Style in 1828. A Romanesque chapel was added to the rear in 1901. The chapel now houses an unusual collection of historic photographs telling the story of Natchez.
Hours: Chapel exhibition open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm
Natchez Under-the-HillCity/Region: Natchez
The city's original waterfront area, Natchez-Under-the-Hill, reached by descending the bluff via Silver Street, was once the notorious haunt of pirates, riverboat gamblers and outlaws, known as the 'Barbary Coast of the Mississippi'. As the use of riverboats dwindled, so did its bad reputation and today the quaint river dockside attracts tourists with restaurants, bars, gift stores and the floating Isle of Capri riverboat casino. Three passenger paddle-wheel steamers dock at the waterfront: the Mississippi Queen, the Delta Queen and the American Queen.
Natchez Trace ParkwayCity/Region: Natchez
The Natchez Trace Parkway starts out in Natchez, southern Mississippi, and runs for 444 miles (715km) to Nashville, Tennessee, cutting across a corner of Alabama. The parkway follows ancient Native American paths that connected the Mississippi River to salt licks in central Tennessee, originally worn by the Choctaw, Chickasaw and other tribes. Later white settlers used the ancient trails to extend their commerce and trade. The route is now served by a scenic road, built and maintained by the National Park Service, which has equipped the popular tourist drive with marked interpretive locations, historic sites, camping and picnicking facilities. Travelers can take time to enjoy nature trails, see portions of the original trace, relax on scenic overlooks, explore historic monuments and bridges, and find out about it all at visitor centers. The parkway is particularly popular with touring cyclists.
Phone Number: (800) 305 7417 (Visitor center)
Website: www.nps.gov/natr
Hours: Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center open daily 8am to 5pm; closed on 25 December. The parkway is open year round subject to bad weather conditions
Admission: Free
Gulf CoastCity/Region: Natchez
The Mississippi Gulf Coast was one of the hardest hit areas when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, causing extensive flooding and damage. The area, centered on the resort towns of Gulfport and Biloxi, was once the casino Mecca of the South and a popular vacation destination, brightly lit with neon, carpeted with golf courses and endowed with sandy beaches and tranquil waters. However most of the Gulf Coast Casinos were destroyed and many places are no longer in existence, but the community is determined to rebuild what was once the 'playground of the south'. Building began in earnest in 2006 and casinos are back to pre-Katrina numbers, while condos are under construction and many new ones are to be built.
Website: www.gulfcoast.org
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