Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson is the capital and largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2000 census, its population is 184,256. The Jackson metropolitan area, including its suburbs and Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Copiah, and Simpson counties, has a population of 510,000. Jackson is one of the county seats of Hinds County; Raymond is the other county seat. The city has self-styled itself as "The Best of the New South," and "The Bold, New City." Frank Melton is the current mayor of Jackson.

History

The city, originally known as LeFleur's Bluff, was founded based on the need for a centrally located capital for the state of Mississippi and named for the iconic figure of General Andrew Jackson. In 1821, the Mississippi General Assembly, meeting in the then-capital, Natchez, had sent Thomas Hinds (for whom Hinds County is named), James Patton, and William Lattimore to look for a site. After surveying areas north and east of Jackson, they proceeded southwest along the Pearl River until they reached LeFleur's Bluff in Hinds County. Their report to the General Assembly stated that this location had beautiful and healthful surroundings, good water, abundant timber, navigable waters, and proximity to the Natchez Trace. And so, a legislative act passed by the Assembly on 28 November 1821 authorized the location to become the permanent seat of the government of the state of Mississippi. Jackson was originally planned out in April 1822 by Peter Van Dorn in a "checkerboard" pattern advocated by Thomas Jefferson, in which city blocks alternated with parks and other open spaces, giving the appearance of a checkerboard. This plan has not lasted to the present day. The state legislature first met in Jackson on December 23, 1822.

Related Topics:
City - Bluff - Capital - Icon - General - Andrew Jackson - 1821 - Natchez - Thomas Hinds - Site - Survey - North - East - Southwest - Pearl River - Water - Timber - Natchez Trace - Act - 28 November - Seat - Government - April - 1822 - Peter Van Dorn - Checkerboard - Pattern - Thomas Jefferson - Blocks - Park - Legislature - December 23

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In 1839, Jackson was the site of the passage of the first state law that permitted married women to own and administer their own property.

Related Topics:
1839 - Law - Married - Women - Property

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Jackson was first linked with other cities by rail in 1840. Unlike Vicksburg, Greenville, and Natchez, Jackson is not located on the Mississippi River, and did not develop like those cities from river commerce. Instead, railroads would later spark growth of the city in the decades after the American Civil War.

Related Topics:
Rail - 1840 - Vicksburg - Greenville - Natchez - Mississippi River - Decade - American Civil War

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In 1863, during the campaign which ended in the capture of Vicksburg, Union forces captured Jackson during two battles - once before the fall of Vicksburg and once after the fall of Vicksburg.

Related Topics:
1863 - Campaign - Vicksburg - Union

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On 13 May 1863, Union forces won the first Battle of Jackson, forcing Confederate forces to flee northward towards Canton. Subsequently, on 15 May 1863 Union troops under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman burned and looted key facilities in city of Jackson, a strategic manufacturing and railroad center for the Confederacy. After driving the Confederate forces out of Jackson, Union forces turned west once again and engaged the Vicksburg defenders at the Battle of Champion Hill in nearby Edwards. The siege of Vicksburg began soon after the Union victory at Champion Hill. Confederate forces began to reassemble in Jackson in preparation for an attempt to break through the Union lines surrounding Vicksburg and end the siege there. The Confederate forces in Jackson built defensive fortifications encircling the city while preparing to march west to Vicksburg.

Related Topics:
13 May - Battle of Jackson - Confederate - Canton - 15 May - Troops - Command - William Tecumseh Sherman - Confederacy - Battle of Champion Hill - Edwards - Siege - Fortification - March - West

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Confederate forces marched out of Jackson to break the siege of Vicksburg in early July, 1863. However, unknown to them, Vicksburg had already surrendered on 4 July 1863. General Ulysses S. Grant dispatched General Sherman to meet the Confederate forces heading west from Jackson. Upon learning that Vicksburg had already surrendered, the Confederates retreated back into Jackson, thus beginning the Siege of Jackson, which lasted for approximately one week. Union forces encircled the city and began an artillery bombardment. One of the Union artillery emplacements still remains intact on the grounds of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Another Federal position is still intact on the campus of Millsaps College. One of the Confederate Generals defending Jackson was former United States Vice President John C. Breckenridge. On 16 July 1863, Confederate forces slipped out of Jackson during the night and retreated across the Pearl River. Union forces completely burned the city after its capture this second time, and the city earned the nickname "Chimneyville" because only the chimneys of houses were left standing. The northern line of Confederate defenses in Jackson during the siege was located along a road near downtown Jackson now known as Fortification Street.

Related Topics:
Surrendered - 4 July - Ulysses S. Grant - Retreat - Siege of Jackson - One - Week - Artillery - Bombardment - Grounds - University of Mississippi Medical Center - Millsaps College - Vice President - John C. Breckenridge - 16 July - Night - Nickname - Chimney - House - Line - Downtown

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Today there are few antebellum structures left standing in Jackson. One surviving structure is the Governor's Mansion, built in 1842, which served as Sherman's headquarters. Another is the Old Capitol building, which served as the home of the Mississippi state legislature from 1839 to 1903. There the Mississippi legislature passed the ordinance of secession from the Union on January 9, 1861, becoming the second state to secede from the United States. The constitutional convention of 1890, which produced Mississippi's Constitution of 1890, was also held there. The so-called New Capitol replaced the older structure upon its completion in 1903, and today the Old Capitol is a historical museum. A third important surviving antebellum structure is the Jackson City Hall, built in 1846 for less than $8,000. It is said that Sherman, a Mason, spared it because it housed a Masonic Lodge, though a more likely reason is that it housed an army hospital.

Related Topics:
Antebellum - Governor's Mansion - 1842 - Headquarters - Old Capitol - 1839 - 1903 - Ordinance - Secession - January 9 - 1861 - 1890 - Constitution - New Capitol - Historical - Museum - City Hall - 1846 - Mason - Lodge - Army - Hospital

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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty was born in Jackson in 1909, died there in 2001, and lived most of her life in the Belhaven section of the city. She wrote a memoir of her development as a writer, One Writer's Beginnings (1984). The book gives a charming picture of the city in the early 20th century. Today, the main Jackson public library is named in her honor.

Related Topics:
Pulitzer Prize - Author - Eudora Welty - 1909 - 2001 - Belhaven - Memoir - Writer - One Writer's Beginnings - 1984 - Book - Picture - 20th century - Library - Honor

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Highly acclaimed African-American author Richard Wright, a native of Roxie, Mississippi, lived in Jackson as an adolescent and young man in the 1910s and 1920s, and relates his experience in his memoir Black Boy (1945). He describes the harsh and largely terror-filled life most African-Americans experienced in the South (and, it should be added, in much of the United States) under segregation in the early twentieth century.

Related Topics:
African-American - Author - Richard Wright - Native - Roxie, Mississippi - Adolescent - 1910s - 1920s - Black Boy - 1945 - Life - United States - Segregation

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Jackson's economic growth was stimulated in the 1930s by the discovery of natural gas fields nearby.

Related Topics:
1930s - Natural gas - Field

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On May 24, 1961 during the American civil rights movement, a large group of Freedom Riders was arrested in Jackson for disturbing the peace after they disembarked from their bus.

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May 24 - 1961 - American civil rights movement - Freedom Riders - Arrest - Disturbing the peace - Bus

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In Jackson, shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963, civil rights activist and leader of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP Medgar Evers was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist. In 1994, prosecutors finally convicted de la Beckwith of murder. A local highway (U.S. Route 49) now bears Medgar Evers' name.

Related Topics:
Midnight - June 12 - 1963 - Activist - Chapter - NAACP - Medgar Evers - Murder - Byron De La Beckwith - White supremacist - 1994 - Prosecutor - Convict - Highway

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The first successful cadaveric lung transplant was performed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson in June 1963 by Dr. James Hardy. Hardy transplanted the cadaveric lung into a patient suffering from lung cancer. The patient survived for eighteen days before dying of kidney failure.

Related Topics:
Lung - Transplant - June - James Hardy - Patient - Lung cancer - Eighteen - Day - Kidney failure

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In 1965, Millsaps College became the first private college in the South to admit African-American students.

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1965 - Private - South - Students

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Since 1968, Jackson has been the home of Malaco Records, one of the leading record companies for gospel and soul music in the United States. In January 1973, Paul Simon recorded the song "Learn How To Fall," found on the album There Goes Rhymin' Simon, in Jackson at the Malaco Recording Studios.

Related Topics:
1968 - Home - Malaco Records - Record - Companies - Gospel - Soul - Music - January - 1973 - Paul Simon - Song - Album - There Goes Rhymin' Simon

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In 1997, Harvey Johnson, Jr. became the city's first African American mayor. Among several accomplishments, he proposed the creation of a Convention Center, in hopes of attracting business to the city. He was replaced by Frank Melton on July 4, 2005.

Related Topics:
1997 - Harvey Johnson, Jr. - African American - Mayor - Convention Center - Frank Melton - July 4 - 2005

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