Mississippi State Capitol Mississippi State Capitol 1901-1903 The state capitol is the third capitol building built in the capital city of Jackson. The first building was completed in 1822, the second building in 1833 and the current capitol building was completed in 1903. The building was erected on the site of the old state penitentiary and was designed by Theodore Link, an architect from St. Louis, Missouri. The building cost $1,093,641 dollars, which was paid by the Illinois Central Railroad by the back taxes they owed the state. In 1979-1983, the capitol building underwent a complete restoration, which cost $19 million. The renovation remained true to the original building and strived to maintain the original design when at all possible. The Beaux Arts style building was designed to house all branches of the Mississippi state government. Currently, only the Legislature and the executive branches are contained in the capitol. The judicial branch is housed in the Gartin Justice Building across High Street. The capitol is 402 feet long and 180 feet to the top of the dome.

The dome interior contains 750 lights which illuminate the blind-folded lady representing "Blind Justice" and four scenes: two Indians, a Spanish explorer and a Confederate general. The eagle which sits atop the dome is made of solid copper coated with gold leaf. The eagle is 8 feet high and 15 feet wide. On the first floor, the Hall of Governors is located. Portraits of Mississippi's governors since the creation of the Mississippi Territory in 1798 are on display. The State Library and the Supreme Court chambers, now both committee meeting rooms, are located on the second floor. The Legislature is housed on the third floor, along with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House's offices. The public viewing for both chambers is located on the fourth floor. The grounds of the capitol building contains one of the 53 replicas of the original Liberty Bell and a statue erected in memory of the ladies, mothers, sisters, wives and daughters of the Confederate soldiers. Among the trees on the grounds are the state tree, the magnolia, along with two Japanaese magnolias. The battleship figurehead is from the second USS Mississippi.

The ship was sold to Greece in 1914 but the figurehead was presented to Mississippi by the United States Navy in December 1909. The Mississippi State Capitol is designated a Mississippi landmark building and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Mississippi State Capitol - Mississippi Department of Archives and History - Mississippi Department of Archives and History Toggle Sidebar Mississippi State Capitol The Mississippi State Capitol has been the seat of the state’s government since 1903. The building is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for self-guided tours. Free guided tours are offered Monday through Friday at 9:30 and 11 a.m. and 1 and 2:30 p.m. Group tours are available by reservation at 601-359-3114 or tours@house.mdah.ms.gov . Directions: The Mississippi State Capitol is located at 400 High Street, Jackson, MS 39201. Take the High Street Exit (96B) off I-55. Take High Street west until you see the capitol to your left. Visitor parking is available on the capitol grounds.

Capitals and Capitols: The Places and Spaces of Mississippi’s Seat of Government | Mississippi History Now Texada – Believed to be the oldest brick building in Natchez, Texada served as a meeting place for the state legislature during the early years of statehood. Photo courtesy Clinton Bagley. First statehouse in Jackson (1822-1839). Courtesy Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Old Capitol – Oldest known photograph of the Old Capitol, circa 1840s. Courtesy Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Call No.:PI/STR/C36/3n Larger view Civil War capitols – Three of the buildings used by state legislature 1863-1865: Lowndes County Courthouse; Calhoun Institute near Macon; Columbus Christian Church. Courtesy Mississippi Department of Archives and History PI/Printing Plates (used in Dunbar Rowland’s History of Mississippi: the Heart of the South). New Capitol – Interior of the New Capitol. Courtesy Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Capitals and Capitols: The Places and Spaces of Mississippi’s Seat of Government By J.

Michael Bunn and Clay Williams The history of Mississippi’s capitals and capitols involves several towns and nearly a dozen buildings. Throughout Mississippi’s territorial period and well into its statehood, choosing a permanent capital and securing adequate meeting space for government officials were constant struggles. Natchez When the United States Congress created the Mississippi Territory on April 7, 1798, out of land ceded by Spain, Natchez was chosen as the capital since it was already a substantial frontier settlement on the Mississippi River. No official capitol was built, and officials met wherever they could find space. Even Winthrop Sargent, territorial governor appointed by President John Adams, was forced to work out of private residences, dating much of his correspondence from “Near Natchez,” “The Grove Plantation,” or “Bellemont.” The General Assembly did not have a place to hold regular meetings until the territorial government secured the use of “Government House” from the military. The house was located on the bluff near old Fort Rosalie and had been used by the Spanish during their occupation of Natchez.

Washington Political rivalry between local Republican and Federalist party members led to the 1802 relocation of the territorial capital to Washington, a small community six miles east of Natchez. Republicans, who gained power in the 1800 election of Thomas Jefferson as U.S. president, sought to move the capital away from what they had long viewed as the corrupt influence of “aristocratic” Natchez, a Federalist Party stronghold. No state capitol was built in Washington either, and the General Assembly often met in rented space in a tavern owned by Charles de France. Back to Natchez Upon Mississippi’s admission to the United States in 1817, the state constitutional convention determined that the first session of the legislature would meet in Natchez. Despite the convention’s act, the first session opened in Washington, but subsequent sessions met in Natchez until 1820. During this time the legislature often met in Texada, a privately owned house in Natchez which still stands today. By 1821 efforts were underway to place the capital in the center of the state.

The Treaty of Doak’s Stand, negotiated with the Choctaw Indians in 1820, had nearly doubled the amount of Mississippi land open to settlement. The rapid population shift away from the Mississippi River region to these new lands brought a decline in the political and economic power of Natchez and led to the end of its days as the center of the state’s political life. Columbia As a first step to select a new capital, legislators chose in 1821 to temporarily locate the seat of government at Columbia. Meeting at Stovall Springs Hotel, they appointed a three-member commission to locate a site on a navigable river for a permanent capital near the center of the state. Thomas Hinds, William Lattimore, and James Patton were chosen for the task; Patton did not serve and was later replaced by Peter Vandorn. The commissioners decided on Le Fleur’s Bluff on the Pearl River as the most favorable location for the capital. Named for the operator of a trading post, the site sufficiently met the search criteria: it was on high ground near a navigable waterway and had good water and fertile soil.

The legislature accepted the commission’s recommendation and ordered the planning of the town of Jackson, named in honor of Andrew Jackson. Jackson Abram de France, the brother of the owner of the Washington tavern the territorial legislature had used as a meeting place, and Bennet Hines were selected to construct the first statehouse in the new capital. The contract called for a 2,400-square-foot building. Their simple two-story brick structure, the first state-owned capitol, was located on the north corner of Capitol and President streets. The legislature first met in the new statehouse December 23, 1822. Despite the prestige of being the state capital, the town of Jackson grew slowly. The city was less of a town than an isolated wilderness community, and for the next ten years several serious efforts to relocate the capital to relatively more affluent cities in the region were narrowly defeated. Jackson’s status as capital was not secured until the 1832 constitutional convention mandated it would remain the center of government until at least 1850. Architect William Nichols The legislature then called for the construction of a larger and more permanent statehouse in 1833.

Architect John Lawrence started on the project the next year with a Gothic Revival design. Disappointed with his slow progress and faulty craftsmanship, the state replaced him in 1835 with William Nichols and had Lawrence’s false start torn down. One of the South’s premier architects, Nichols was architect of the North Carolina and Alabama statehouses. Despite Nichols’s ability, work on his Greek Revival capitol progressed slowly over the next several years as the project was delayed by economic depression, a lack of skilled labor, and shortages in building materials. Workers were still adding finishing touches when the legislature first met in the building in January 1839. Capital on the move The American Civil War (1861-1865) caused the next movement of the seat of government. During the conflict, Union troops occupied Jackson on several occasions, forcing most government officials to meet elsewhere in the state. Macon and Columbus both served temporarily as capital and hosted legislative sessions. In addition, some government officials operated at various times at Enterprise and Meridian. The statehouse survived the war, but by the 1890s, it was in disrepair and could no longer meet the space needs of state government.

Architect Theodore Link Attempts were made as early as 1896 to have a new capitol constructed, but it was not until Governor Andrew H. Longino’s urging during the 1900 legislative session that a new capitol was authorized. The project was financed by nearly one million dollars in back taxes owed by railroad companies. St. Louis architect Theodore Link was selected to construct the facility on the site of the old state penitentiary. Link designed the massive capitol in the Beaux Arts style, which featured elements from several classical architectural forms. Its elaborately decorated interior included various types of marble and was illuminated by 4,750 electric lights, a recent invention at the time of construction. The facility was dedicated June 3, 1903. The capitol turns 100; The old capitol is museum One hundred years later on June 3, 2003, Mississippians celebrated the anniversary of their capitol. Click here for the speech historian David Sansing, Ph.D., delivered at the celebration.

The 1839 Greek Revival capitol is now the Old Capitol Museum and it re-opened in 2009 after a three-year restoration following damage sustained from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Exhibits now interpret the distinguished history of the building, the role of government, and the importance of historic preservation. J. Michael Bunn is executive director, Historic Chattahoochee Commission, and Clay Williams is director, Old Capitol Museum, Jackson, Mississippi. Posted September 2003; updated 2009 Definitions Capital – The city or town which is the official seat of government in a country, state, or region. Capitol – The building in which a legislative body meets; a statehouse. Bibliography: Books Bettersworth, John K. Mississippi: A History. Austin: The Steck Company, 1959. Bettersworth, John K. and James W. Silver, eds. Mississippi in the Confederacy. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1961. Clark, Thomas D. and John D.W. Guice. The Old Southwest, 1795-1830.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. Cox, James L. The Mississippi Almanac. Yazoo City: Computer Search and Research, 2001. Cross, Ralph D., Robert W. Wales, and Charles T. Traylor. Atlas of Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1974. Gleason, David K., Mary Warren Miller, and Ronald W. Miller. The Great Houses of Natchez. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1986. James, D. Clayton. Antebellum Natchez. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Lowry, Robert, and William H. McCardle. A History of Mississippi. Spartanburg, S.C.: The Reprint Company, 1978. McCain, William D. The Story of Jackson. Jackson: J.F. Hyer Publishing Company, 1953. McLemore, Richard A., ed. A History of Mississippi, Volume 1. Jackson: University & College Press of Mississippi, 1973. Rowland, Dunbar. History of Mississippi.

Spartanburg, S.C.: The Reprint Company, 1978. Rowland, Dunbar. Mississippi Territorial Archives, Volume 1. Nashville: Press of Brandon Printing Company, 1905. Sansing, David G., Sim C. Callon, and Carolyn V. Smith. Natchez: An Illustrated History. Natchez: Plantation Publishing Company, 1995. Skates, John Ray. Mississippi’s Old Capitol: Biography of a Building. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, 1990. Sydnor, Charles S. A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region: Benjamin L.C. Wailes. Durham: Duke University Press, 1938. Official papers Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Mississippi, 1817-1857 Constitution of the State of Mississippi, 1817 Journal of the Constitutional Convention, State of Mississippi, 1817 Mississippi Historical Society © 2000–2016. All rights reserved.

Mississippi: Map, History, Population, Facts, Capitol, Flag, Tree, Geography, Symbols Mississippi Governor: Phil Bryant, R (to Jan. 2016) Lieut. Governor: Tate Reeves, R (to Jan. 2016) Senators: Thad Cochran , R (to Jan. 2021); Roger Wicker, R (to Jan. 2019) Secy. of State: Delbert Hosemann, R (to Jan. 2016) Treasurer: Lynn Fitch, R (to Jan. 2016) Atty. General: Jim Hood, D (to Jan. 2016) Organized as territory: April 7, 1798 Entered Union (rank): Dec.

10, 1817 (20) Present constitution adopted: 1890 flower or bloom of the magnolia or evergreen magnolia (1952) wildflower largemouth or black bass (1974) insect bottlenosed dolphin or porpoise (1974) fossil white-tailed deer (1974), red fox (1997) waterfowl Nickname: Magnolia State Origin of name: From an Indian word meaning “Father of Waters” 10 largest cities (2012): Jackson , 175,437; Gulfport , 70,113; Southhaven, 50,374 Hattiesburg , 47,169; ; Biloxi , 44,578; Meridian , 40,832; Tupelo , 35,490; Greenville , 33,418; Olive Branch, 34,485124; Horn Lake 26,529 Land area: 46,907 sq mi.

(121,489 sq km) Geographic center: In Leake Co., 9 mi. WNW of Carthage Number of counties: 82 Largest county by population and area: Hinds, 245,285 (2010); Yazoo, 920 sq mi. State parks: 24 2015 resident population: 2,992,333 2010 resident census population (rank): 2,967,297 (31). Male: 1,441,240 (48.6%); Female: 1,526,057 (51.4%).

White: 1,754,684 (59.1%); Black: 1,098,385 (37.0%); American Indian: 15,030 (0.5%); Asian: 25,742 (0.9%); Other race: 38,162 (1.3%); Two or more races: 34,107 (1.1%); Hispanic/Latino: 81,481 (2.7%). 2010 population 18 and over: 2,211,742; 65 and over: 380,407 (12.8%); median age: 36.0. Map of Mississippi First explored for Spain by Hernando de Soto , who discovered the Mississippi River in 1540, the region was later claimed by France. In 1699, a French group under Sieur d'Iberville established the first permanent settlement near present-day Ocean Springs.

Great Britain took over the area in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars , ceding it to the U.S. in 1783 after the Revolution. Spain did not relinquish its claims until 1798, and in 1810 the U.S. annexed West Florida from Spain, including what is now southern Mississippi. For a little more than one hundred years, from shortly after the state's founding through the Great Depression, cotton was the undisputed king of Mississippi's largely agrarian economy. Over the last half-century, however, Mississippi has diversified its economy by balancing agricultural output with increased industrial activity. Today, agriculture continues as a major segment of the state's economy. For almost four decades soybeans occupied the most acreage, while cotton remained the largest cash crop. In 2001, however, more acres of cotton were planted than soybeans, and Mississippi jumped to second in the nation in cotton production (exceeded only by Texas). The state's farmlands also yield important harvests of corn, peanuts, pecans, rice, sugar cane, and sweet potatoes as well as poultry, eggs, meat animals, dairy products, feed crops, and horticultural crops.

Mississippi remains the world's leading producer of pond-raised catfish. The state abounds in historical landmarks and is the home of the Vicksburg National Military Park . Other National Park Service areas are Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, Tupelo National Battlefield, and part of Natchez Trace National Parkway. Pre–Civil War mansions are the special pride of Natchez , Oxford , Columbus, Vicksburg , and Jackson . On Aug. 29, 2005, Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina, killing hundreds, mostly in Harrison County. See more on Mississippi: History History Legislation Search​ House Bills Senate Bills House Concurrent Resolutions Senate Concurrent Resolutions House Resolutions Senate Resolutions Senate Nomination Joint Resolutions Required ​​ Mississippi State Capitol The Mississippi State Capitol is located on High Street between President and West streets in downtown Jackson. The building’s address is 400 High St., Jackson, Mississippi, 39201. Tours Guided tours are conducted free of charge by staff and volunteers from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Tours are given weekdays at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.

and​ 2:30 p.m. or visitors are welcome to take a self-guided tour. Group and school tours are available by reservation. To schedule a tour, contact Visitor Services at the Mississippi State Capitol at (601) 359-3114 or tours@house.ms.gov. To view guidelines for school tour groups, click here​​ , and watch the video to see what to expect on group tours. ​​ Public Galleries During legislative sessions, visitors may view the Senate and House of Representatives from their respective galleries. Public galleries are accessible from the fourth floor of the Capitol. Visitors are asked to silence any electronic devices while in the galleries. Brief History of the Mississippi Capitol The Mississippi State Capitol has been the seat of the state’s government since 1903. The building is located on the site of the old state penitentiary and was designed by Theodore Link, an architect from St. Louis, Missouri. Construction cost more than $1 million, which was funded by back taxes from a lawsuit settlement with the Illinois Central Railroad. The State Capitol is the third capitol building constructed in Jackson. The first building was completed in 1822 and no longer stands.

The second building was completed in 1839, served as the Capitol until 1903, and today is the Old Capitol Museum. Upon the Capitol’s dedication in 1903, Governor A.H. Longino said of the new building, “... give to the people a Capitol building which shall be a reflex of the State’s public spirit, pride and integrity.” The Beaux Arts-style building was designed to house all branches of Mississippi state government. Currently, only the Legislature, the ceremonial office of the Governor, and an office of the Secretary of State operate in the Capitol. The Capitol has a width of 402 feet, and the dome has a height of 180 feet. The interior Rotunda dome contains 750 lights which illuminate the blind-folded lady representing “Blind Justice” and four figures that played a role in Mississippi history: two Native Americans, a European explorer and a Confederate soldier. An eagle adorns the top of the central dome and is made of copper coated with gold leaf. The eagle is 8-feet high and 15-feet wide. The Hall of Governors is located on the first floor.

Portraits of the state’s governors since the creation of the Mississippi Territory in 1798 are on display. The former State Library and the former Supreme Court chambers, now both committee meeting rooms, are located on the second floor. The Legislature is housed on the third floor, along with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House. The capitol grounds contain one of the 55 replicas of the original Liberty Bell and a Women of the Confederacy monument, dedicated in June 1912, to honor the wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of Confederate soldiers. A variety of trees surround the Capitol, including the Magnolia (the official state tree and flower), a Japanese magnolia and cherry trees. The battleship figurehead is from the second USS Mississippi. The ship was sold to Greece in 1914, but the figurehead was presented to Mississippi by the U.S. Navy in December 1909. The Mississippi State Capitol is designated a Mississippi Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A four-year, $19 million restoration completed in 1983 helped to preserve and maintain the original features of the building.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Jackson: The Capital City and the Civil War | Mississippi History Now Larger view The Bowman House in Jackson, Mississippi. Gen. Grant stayed here when Federal troops took control of Jackson in 1863. The hotel, built in 1857, stood on the corner of State and Amite streets, across the street from the capitol. It burned in 1863. Courtesy Mississippi Department of Archives and History, PI/SF/HS/1988.0026, No.1 Federal troops charge into Jackson, Mississippi, in 1863. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Popular Graphic Arts Collection, LC-DIG-pga-02196 Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson commanded Federal forces that drove through Confederate defenses to capture Jackson. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photograph Division, Civil War Collection, LC-DIG-cwpb-07051 Maj. Gen. William T.

Sherman, officer of the Federal Army, described the destruction to Jackson’s railroads: “4 miles east of Jackson, 3 south, 3 north, and 10 west.” Courtesy of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, Mississippi State University Libraries . Larger view Train with reinforcements for General Joseph E. Johnston, commander of the Confederate forces in the west, running off the track in the forests of Mississippi. Courtesy of the Civil War in America from The Illustrated London News; a joint project by Sandra J. Still, Emily E. Katt Collection Management, and the Beck Center of Emory University . Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, officer of the Confederate forces, abandoned Jackson and pulled his Confederate troops to Canton, northeast of Jackson. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Civil War Collection, LC-USZ62-85832 In July 1863, Gen.

Sherman and other generals gathered at the Governor’s Mansion, where, Sherman remembered, they had a “beautiful supper and union of the generals of this army.” Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, HABS MISS,25-JACK,6-1933 Larger view Reoccupation of Jackson, Mississippi, by the Confederates. Illustration from the August 8, 1863, edition of The Illustrated London News. Courtesy of the Civil War in America from The Illustrated London News; a joint project by Sandra J. Still, Emily E. Katt Collection Management, and the Beck Center of Emory University . Jackson: The Capital City and the Civil War Timothy B. Smith The members of the Mississippi Legislature excitedly listened to Governor John J. Pettus’s remarkable discourse that November 1860 day in the capital city of Jackson. Facing the news of a newly elected Republican president, the governor called on the state to “go down into Egypt while Herod reigns in Judea.” Pettus was using a Biblical analogy, comparing Abraham Lincoln to Herod and referencing Jesus’s escape from that dictator by fleeing southward.

Pettus was calling for Mississippi’s secession, and the legislature quickly called a convention to remove the state from the Union. That convention, also meeting in Jackson, passed the ordinance of secession in early January 1861, thus setting Mississippi on the path toward war. Little did the legislators know that they were also putting their capital city in danger. For Jackson, the American Civil War would be disastrous. Named for Andrew Jackson, the city had been established in 1821 as the seat of state government, the site chosen because of the merging of several transportation routes, most notably the Pearl River and the Natchez Trace. Jackson quickly became the center of the political, economic, and social activity in Mississippi. Other cities such as Vicksburg and Natchez on the Mississippi River and Corinth, Meridian, and Grenada on the state’s recently built rail system were also important, but everything actually centered in Jackson. The governor maintained his office in the state house, where the legislature also met in biannual sessions and where the state supreme court heard cases appealed from all over Mississippi.

Those who were delegates to the legislature or had business in the city had any number of restaurants and hotels to choose from, the most famous being the Bowman House next door to the state capitol. Nearby City Hall contained the city government, while the state Governor’s Mansion sat just down Capitol Street. The city also boasted masonic, concert, and lyceum halls. By 1860, Jackson had a population of 3,191 citizens, but that figure dramatically increased with the coming of war. Soldiers came and went through the city, and Confederate and state manufacturing and supply depots, using the increasingly important railroads that met there, brought in much more traffic and activity. Soon, Jackson saw a great deal of war industry, including textile, weapons, and ammunition factories and arsenals. Early war safety Once Mississippi seceded from the Union on January 9, 1861, Jackson became a seat of war. Governor Pettus quickly began to acquire arms and supplies for the large number of volunteers coming into the state army. The legislature was busy as well, holding numerous regular and special sessions in order to deal with arming the state and paying for the war.

Pettus and the other government officials worked in safety during the first two years of the war. Fighting took place both far north and far south of Jackson and central Mississippi, although by mid-1862 the Federals had begun to make incursions into the state. They had taken Corinth in May 1862, and in the summer the Union navy had appeared before Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. By late 1862, Jackson was in greater danger as Federal generals William T. Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant moved forward. Those thrusts were blocked, however, and the governor and legislature continued their work in peace. In December 1862, Confederate president Jefferson Davis even paid a visit, speaking to an increasingly concerned legislature and population, both worried about more approaching Federal troops. Just because the war was not yet being fought in the vicinity of Jackson did not mean the effects were not felt there, however. Situated on major river and rail lines, Jackson saw its share of wounded and sick soldiers sent home from the battle fronts. Likewise, the economic devastation caused by the war in general and the Union naval blockade in particular began to have a major effect on Jacksonians.

Prices steadily rose as goods became scarcer; at times, a pair of boots cost $125, sugar was $3.50 a pound, tea sold for $7 a pound, and watermelons fetched up to $25 each. A cash-strapped legislature could do little but offer almost worthless treasury notes for the people to use as currency. And then there was actual devastation, such as when an ammunition factory in the city blew up in November 1862, killing around forty workers, mostly women and children. One Mississippi newspaper reported on the devastation, saying the “two-story brick building used as a laboratory was blown to the smallest atoms.” It also described the mangled bodies, including “a poor girl [who] was hanging by one foot to the limb of a tree; she was evidently dead, but her clothes were still burning.” And the Federal troops had not even arrived. War comes to Jackson Jackson’s fortunes turned markedly worse in the spring of 1863. General Grant, after several thwarted attempts to reach Vicksburg, moved his Army of the Tennessee across the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg in late April and headed northward, intending to break the railroad between Jackson and Vicksburg.

He quickly decided he had to neutralize Jackson as a Confederate base in order to protect his rear when he eventually went after Vicksburg. Thus, Grant moved toward the capital city in mid-May. By May 14, two corps of his army, one commanded by General James B. McPherson and the other by Sherman, drove through Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s weak defenses and captured Jackson. Two Union staff officers climbed the copper dome of the state house and raised the United States flag over the capitol. Jackson was now an occupied city. Johnston had abandoned Jackson and pulled his Confederate troops to Canton, northeast of Jackson. After scattering the motley assortment of Confederate defenders, mostly state militia infantry and artillery, Federal units spread out into the city and took full control. Grant himself registered at the Bowman House, while the 31st Iowa Infantry camped in the Senate chamber of the state house. Other soldiers held a mock session of the legislature in the House chamber, where the ordinance of secession had been passed. A member of the 30th Illinois Infantry wrote home that his unit camped in the “Public Square at Jackson Miss.” The occupation was not the worst of Jackson’s fate, however.

A military governor, Brigadier General Joseph A. Mower, acting from his headquarters in the state house, commanded a provost guard and other troops who began to neutralize Jackson as a Confederate transportation, industrial, political, and military center. Union troops destroyed or heavily damaged railroads, bridges, factories, warehouses, and the state penitentiary, institute for the blind, and lunatic asylum. Sherman described the destruction: “the arsenal buildings, the Government foundry, the gun carriage establishment, including the carriages for two complete six-gun batteries, stable, carpenter and paint shops were destroyed.” He also described the destruction to Jackson’s railroads: “4 miles east of Jackson, 3 south, 3 north, and 10 west.” Sherman concluded that “Jackson, as a railroad center or Government depot of stores and military factories, can be of little use to the enemy for six months.” Many of Jackson inhabitants also suffered the loss of personal property. One minister remembered: “My thresholds, it is true, were spared the stain of blood; but theft and ravage, and wanton destruction marked every room in the house and every article on the premises. . . .

May God forgive them for all the evil they did during the two memorable days which they spent amongst us.” Even some of the city’s foreign guests were caught up in the destruction, including a “subject of Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland” and a French family who reported “they had been much ill-treated, notwithstanding their French nationality.” One onlooker described the city as “a miserable wreck” and having “a deplorable aspect.” A newspaper reported a new name for the city: Chimneyville, but modern historians contest the validity of that term. Even more significant for the state was the disruption of the political process. Although the state house and Governor’s Mansion were not harmed, the government was sent on the run. Governor Pettus removed the treasury, archives, and various departments of the state in anticipation of Grant’s arrival, sending much of it eastward toward Meridian and even into Alabama. Although Pettus and part of the government returned a few days after the Federals moved on westward toward Vicksburg, the formal seat of state government did not return to Jackson until the end of the war. The legislature met in various locations, such as Columbus and Macon for the rest of the conflict.

Pettus, who later fled again before advancing Federals, decided thereafter to remain in the safer eastern sections of the state. His successor, Governor Charles Clark, did likewise. Jackson’s late-war vulnerability After the state government left Jackson in May 1863, not to return until the end of the war, the city became almost a no-man’s land. Situated as it was between the major Federal occupied region around Vicksburg and the Confederate-held territory farther east, Jackson saw frequent action during the remainder of the war, and was in fact captured four more times. After leaving in May 1863, the Federals returned to Jackson in July to finish their destruction and to make sure no gathering Confederates threatened their now-captured prize at Vicksburg. Thus, the city came under Federal control for the second time in the war. Sherman and other generals gathered at the Governor’s Mansion, where, Sherman remembered, they had a “beautiful supper and union of the generals of this army.” But that was not the end of Federal control. After withdrawing once more into their occupied cities along the river, the Federals made several raids that retook Jackson periodically.

One was the famous Meridian Campaign , during which Sherman marched a large army through and recaptured the city for a third time, prompting him to write his wife, “A new burning has been inflicted on this afflicted town.” Then, in July 1864, smaller Federal forces that included a black cavalry regiment of former slaves returned on another raid, mainly to destroy a railroad bridge the Confederates had rebuilt across the Pearl River. Confederate resistance to the re-occupations was minimal, mostly cavalry trying to harass the enemy. Union troops captured the city for the fifth time in May 1865. It was that final capture that put Mississippi and its government out of the war for good. The fighting in the western theater did not end until after the eastern surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. Thus, Jackson was occupied by Federal troops just as the state governor and legislature returned to the city. Governor Clark called the legislature together to facilitate the state’s re-entrance into the United States. Federal commanders were in no mood to let a hostile government operate in the city, however, and they captured the governor and the state archives while sending the legislature home under the threat of arrest.

One observer noted that the legislators “did not stop to give him a vote of thanks, or even to adjourn sine die , or wait for a benediction, or farewell remarks from the presiding officers; but in an astonishingly short time they got a move on them, and in the direction of the highways leading out of Jackson.” The effect of Jackson’s capture and continual recapture, changing hands some nine times during the war, had a larger effect than just on the decimated local population, however. Mississippians from all over the state saw Jackson as their symbolic center, and its capture had a devastating psychological effect on the people. Moreover, the continual recapture of the city, almost at the whim of the Federals it seemed, showed the people of Mississippi that their state and their government could no longer protect them. If the Federals could capture the state capital over and over anytime they chose to, it demonstrated that Confederate resistance had crumbled and that the Federals could march anywhere they pleased around the state. The Union forces had clearly won the conflict, and no Jacksonian could doubt it based on their own wartime experiences. Timothy B. Smith, Ph.D., teaches at the University of Tennessee at Martin.

He has authored numerous books and articles, many relating to Mississippi history. His most recent work is a study of Mississippi’s home front during the Civil War for the Mississippi Historical Society’s Mississippi Heritage Series . Confederate Mississippi: The People and Policies of a Cotton State in Wartime . Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1943. Boman, Martha. “A City of the Old South: Jackson, Mississippi, 1850-60.” Journal of Mississippi History 15, no. 1 (January 1953): 1-32. Dubay, Robert W. John Jones Pettus, Mississippi Fire-eater: His Life and Times, 1813-1867 . Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1975. Fremantle, Arthur J. L. Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863 . Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1863. Fulkerson, H. S. A Civilian’s Recollections of the War Between the States . P. L. Rainwater, ed. Baton Rouge: Otto Claitor, 1939.

Howell, H. Grady. Chimneyville: “Likenesses” of Early Days in Jackson, Mississippi . Madison: Chickasaw Bayou Press, 2007. Rainwater, Percy L. Mississippi: Storm Center of Secession, 1856-1861 . Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1938. Smith, Timothy B. The Civil War in Mississippi: The Home Front (The Mississippi Historical Society’s Mississippi Heritage Series). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010. Mississippi Historical Society © 2000–2016. All rights reserved. Mississippi State Facts - 50States.com Missouri Mississippi Facts and Trivia In 1963 the University of Mississippi Medical Center accomplished the world's first human lung transplant and, on January 23, 1964, Dr. James D. Hardy performed the world's first heart transplant surgery. Borden's Condensed Milk was first canned in Liberty. In 1902 while on a hunting expedition in Sharkey County, President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear.

This act resulted in the creation of the world-famous teddy bear. The world's largest shrimp is on display at the Old Spanish Fort Museum in Pascagoula. The first bottle of Dr. Tichener's Antiseptic was produced in Liberty. The world's largest cactus plantation is in Edwards. Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, on January 8, 1935. H.T. Merrill from Luka performed the world's first round trip trans-oceanic flight in 1928. In 1884 the concept of selling shoes in boxes in pairs (right foot and left foot) occurred in Vicksburg at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor on Washington Street. The first female rural mail carrier in the United States was Mrs. Mamie Thomas. She delivered mail by buggy to the area southeast of Vicksburg in 1914. Historic Jefferson College, circa 1802, was the first preparatory school established in the Mississippi Territory. Located in Washington the educational institution is also the site where tradition holds Aaron Burr was arraigned for treason in 1807, beneath what became known as Burr Oaks.

William Grant Still of Woodville composed the Afro-American Symphony. Burnita Shelton Mathews of Hazelhurst was the first woman federal judge in the United States and served in Washington, the District of Columbia. Dr. Emmette F. Izard of Hazelhurst developed the first fibers of rayon. They became known as the first real synthetics. The first nuclear submarine built in the south was produced in Mississippi. In 1871 Liberty became the first town in the United States to erect a Confederate monument. Mississippi was the first state in the nation to have a planned system of junior colleges. Leontyne Price of Laurel performed with the New York Metropolitan Opera. Mississippi is the birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star. The rarest of North American cranes lives in Mississippi in the grassy savannas of Jackson County. The Mississippi Sandhill Crane stands about 44 inches tall and has an eight-foot wingspan. Guy Bush of Tupelo was one of the most valuable players with the Chicago Cubs. He was on the 1929 World Series team and Babe Ruth hit his last home run off a ball pitched by Bush. S.B.

Sam Vick of Oakland played for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He was the only man ever to pinch hit for the baseball great Babe Ruth. Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc. in West Point is proclaimed to make the very best snow sled in the United States, which became an American tradition. It is called The Flexible Flyer. Friendship Cemetery in Columbus has been called Where Flowers Healed a Nation. It was April 25, 1866, and the Civil War had been over for a year when the ladies of Columbus decided to decorate both Confederate and Union soldiers' graves with beautiful bouquets and garlands of flowers. As a direct result of this kind gesture, Americans celebrate what has come to be called Memorial Day each year, an annual observance of recognition of war dead. The largest Bible-binding plant in the nation is Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood. After the Civil War, famed hat maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced his trade at Dunn's Falls near Meridian. In 1834 Captain Isaac Ross, whose plantation was in Lorman, freed his slaves and arranged for them to be sent to Africa, where they founded the country of Liberia.

Recently, representatives of Liberia visited Lorman and placed a stone at the Captain's gravesite in honor of his kindness. The world's largest cottonwood tree plantation is in Issaquena County. David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the Soft Toilet Seat. Over 1,000,000 are sold every year. The first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia. Greenwood is the home of Cotton Row, which is the second largest cotton exchange in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest game in America is stickball. The Choctaw Indians of Mississippi played the game. Demonstrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia. The International Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal. Natchez was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River. Natchez once had 500 millionaires, more than any other city except New York City. Natchez now has more than 500 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Natchez Trace Parkway, named an All American Road by the federal government, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace began as an Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago. The Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second largest national cemetery in the country. Arlington National Cemetery is the largest. D'Lo was featured in "Life Magazine" for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II than any other town of its size. 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served. Mississippi suffered the largest percentage of people who died in the Civil War of any Confederate State. 78,000 Mississippians entered the Confederate military. By the end of the war 59,000 were either dead or wounded. Pine Sol was invented in 1929 by Jackson native Harry A. Cole, Sr. The world's largest pecan nursery is in Lumberton. Greenwood is called the Cotton Capital of the World. Belzoni is called the Catfish Capital of the World. Vardaman is called the Sweet Potato Capital of the World. Greenville is called the Towboat Capital of the World.

Root beer was invented in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr. Of Mississippi's 82 counties, Yazoo County is the largest and Alcorn County is the smallest. The Mississippi River is the largest in the United States and is the nation's chief waterway. Its nickname is Old Man River. At Vicksburg, the United States Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station is the world's largest hydraulic research laboratory. At Pascagoula the Ingalls Division of Litton Industries uses leading-edge construction techniques to build the United State Navy's most sophisticated ships. At the state's eight research centers programs are under way in acoustics, polymer science, electricity, microelectronics, hydrodynamics, and oceanography. Thanks to: Ron Collins, Greg Maxedon, Source: 'Mississippi', published by the office of the Secretary of State

Question: What is the state capital of Mississippi?
Answer: Jackson