Jackson Travel Guide — Best Time, Things to Do & Where to Stay

Why Jackson

Jackson is the capital and most populous city in Mississippi, situated along the Pearl River in the state's greater Jackson Prairie region. Positioned in the Deep South along Interstates 55 and 20—which link the area to regional centers such as Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, and Atlanta—the municipality serves as one of two county seats for Hinds County. Nicknamed "The City with Soul," Jackson is widely recognized for its rich musical heritage across blues, gospel, folk, and jazz, as well as its concentration of state government, history, and cultural institutions.

Originally inhabited by the Choctaw and known as Chisha Foka, the site developed into a trading post along the Natchez Trace established by French-Canadian trader Louis LeFleur, gaining the name LeFleur's Bluff. Following an 1820 treaty, Mississippi commissioners selected the location in 1821 as the state's new central capital due to its elevated setting, timber, fresh water, and river access. Named in honor of General Andrew Jackson, the settlement was laid out in 1822 in a grid pattern alternating built blocks with open public parks. The introduction of rail lines in the 1840s subsequently transformed the community into a key trade hub.

During the American Civil War, Jackson was a strategic Confederate manufacturing and rail center, leading to two captures by Union troops under General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1863. Extensive burning by Union forces earned the damaged city the moniker "Chimneyville." A few antebellum structures survived the conflict, including the 1842 Governor's Mansion used as Sherman's headquarters, the 1846 City Hall, the mid-nineteenth-century Manship House, and the Old Capitol building, which housed the state legislature between 1839 and 1903.

Today, visitors can explore numerous historical sites and educational venues throughout the city. The Old Capitol now operates as a historical museum, standing alongside institutions such as the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the Museum of Mississippi History, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Mississippi Children's Museum, and the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. Architectural points of interest in the downtown area include the 1923 King Edward Hotel and the 18-story Standard Life Building erected in 1929. The city also features the National Historic Landmark home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty, while major events and college football games take place at the Mississippi Coliseum and the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.