Travel Guide Jackson

Founded in 1821, Jackson is the capital and largest city in Mississippi. It is also, with Raymond, one of the two seats in the County of Hinds. The city is home to 175 400 people and its metropolitan area 538 000. Bordered by Pearl River, Jackson is a few miles south of the Natchez Trace Parkway.Unlike Rode, Greenville and Natchez, all of which are located on the Mississippi River, Jackson could not develop until the arrival of the first railway in 1840. Heavily affected by the war of Secession, it had to wait until the beginning of the 1930 th century to see its economic and demographic growth increase significantly, especially from the s, when it discovered large deposits of gas and then oil nearby. These deposits were operated until the mid s.While the city, which was razed to the brink of civil war, kept little trace of that time, it remains deeply scarred by the civil rights struggles in the 1960 s.At an equal distance from Memphis and New Orleans, and from Dallas and Atlanta, Jackson is now located in one of the most dynamic Sun belt growth areas. It is a large exchange centre with Interstates I -20 and I -55, two airports including an international and several major railway lines. The Jackson Convention Complex, which opened in 2009, represents the heart of the city for many businessmen.While the architecture of the city is not most representative of its history, art and culture are particularly present with a symphony orchestra, Opera, ballet company, several professional theatre troops, and a very beautiful art museum. Moreover, if Jackson is located outside the Delta Region and the cradle of the blues, it remains inhabited by its rhythms and many establishments will allow you to listen to excellent bluesmen. Malaco Records, one of the leading record publishers for the gospel, blues and soul music in the United States has been installed in Jackson since 1967, the date of its foundation by Tommy Couch and Mitch Malouf (Malouch + Couch = Malaco). Another famous label was Ace Records, founded by Johnny Vincent (1925-2000) and was a great success from 1955 to 1997.Some major events are taking place at the Veterans Memorial Stadium (open in 1941 - 61 000 seats), in Mississippi Coliseum (open in 1961 - 6 500 places) or at the Smith-Wills Stadium (open in 1975 - 5 200 places).Among the main events of the city, the Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo (January), The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and Parade (January), the Lynch Street Cultural Arts Festival (April), and the Jackson Rhythm & Blues Festival (August) hold an important place. Two gay events are planned annually, despite a very conservative spirit in the state: the Mississippi LGBT Pride (ex OUToberfest) in June and the Jackson Black Pride in November.The writer and photographer Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was born and lived in Jackson (his house can be visited, and his tomb is at the Greenwood Cemetery). Novelist Richard Ford (1944) grew up until the age of eight. Richard Wright (1908-1960) spent part of his childhood, described in his autobiographical novel Black Boy (1945). Read The Help (2009) novel, Kathryn Stockett, or watch the eponymous Tate Taylor film that came out in France in 2011 under the heading La Color des sentiments. They will give you an idea of the segregation as it existed in Jackson in the 1960 s. Stockett and Taylor, both born in 1961 and childhood friends, are also native to Jackson.In addition to being a pleasant and extremely interesting city from the perspective of civil rights in America, Jackson is also an excellent drop-off point to visit the region.HistoryA first establishment was founded in 1792 by Louis LeFleur, a French-Canadian merchant, to be able to trade with the Amerindians on the Natchez Trace. He set up his counter on the heights of a cliff dominating the west shore of the Pearl River named "High Mondo Bluff". The place took the name of LeFleur's Bluff.At the beginning of the th century, the state of Mississippi, which wanted to move the government headquarters outside the Natchez area in a more central place, designated three men to locate the ideal site. After successfully studying the regions north and east of Jackson, Thomas Hinds, James Patton, and William Lattimore discovered the approaches of the Pearl River until they arrived at Bluff's LeFleur. A treaty signed in 1820 with the Choctaws who occupied the region officially opened the area to the settlers.On November 28, 1821, the government's future location was designated and named Jackson, in honour of Major-General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), winner of the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. He later became the seventh president of the United States. The first building to host the government was a two-storey brick structure. Shortly after the adoption of the 1832 Constitution, which ensured that Jackson would be the permanent capital of the state, the construction of a second building was decided. The latter was born in 1839. This magnificent example of neo-Hellenic architecture, now known as Old Capitol, remained the seat of the government until 1903. From 1839 to 1842 the Governor's Mansion was built. In 1842, the Rode-Jackson railway line was inaugurated. We had to wait until 1846 for the City Hall to be built.During the Civil war, the city became a major transport and production centre of southern states. On 14 May 1863, the Battle of Jackson pitted General Ulysses S. Grant's troops (1822-1885) to the confederated forces of General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891). The city fell into the hands of the northerners, which opened the road to the west and led to the siege of Rode. After the fall of Rode, Jackson, where once again took the Cut, underwent a second assault on 5 July 1863. The city gave birth after a 10-day siege. Under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), troops captured and destroyed the capital, as well as railway facilities of inestimable strategic importance for Confederation. Only three buildings were spared: the Old Capitol, the Governor's Mansion and the City Hall. After the conflict, the city was called Chimneyville, because only the fireplaces of the houses remained standing.The economic recovery after the civil war was slow, but the redevelopment of transport at the beginning of the twentieth century allowed the city to grow further.In 1903 the "New" Capitol, with a strong architecture inspired by Capitol de Washington, succeeds the 1839 Capitol as the government seat.In 1910, the population rose from 8 000 people at the beginning of the century to over 21 200. Many buildings come into being in the decade. In 1923, the luxurious King Edward Hotel (now Hilton Gardenn Inn) opened its doors. 1927 sees the inauguration of the new Union Station serving several railway lines, including Illinois Central Railroad. Finally, in 1929, the Standard Life building, designed by Claude Lindsley, became the largest Reinforced Concrete Structure in the world.During the 1930 s, the effects of the Great Depression were mitigated by the success of the gas and oil industry. At their peak, in 1934, there will be one hundred thousand extraction wells in the State. The majority will be closed in 1955.During World War II, the airport of Hawkins Venom, northwest of Jackson became an important military base.In 1949, the poet Margaret Walker began teaching at Jackson State University, a historically black university. It taught it until 1979, and founded the Center for African-American Studies. His novel Jubilee (1966) is considered a major work of African-American literature.In 1955, opening of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where the first cardio-pulmonary transplant was held in 1963.During the 1960 s, Jackson experienced significant unrest during the civil rights movement, particularly in its major educational institutions (Tougaloo College, Jackson State College - which will become Jackson State University in 1974). On May 24, 1961, 27 riders were arrested on the descent of their buses for disruption to public order. They are soon joined by hundreds of others and, at the end of 1961, more than 300 of them will have been sent to the state prison, the Parchman Penitentiary. On 12 June 1963, Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist and activist of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Tinted People), was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith, member of the White Citizens'Council (WCC). Part of the US Highway 49, several buildings and the international airport of Jackson-Evers were named in honour of Medgar Evers. On June 26, 1966, James Meredith, who began a month earlier a solitary march between Memphis and Jackson (354 km) to protest against racism, arrived in the city. The name of this march is known as March Against Fear. In 1962, James Meridith was the first African-American who was successful in enrolling at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. In September 1967, the Ku Klux Klan launched a bomb on the synagogue of the congregation Beth Israel and repeated in November, targeting the home of his rabbi, Dr. Perry Nussbaum. This is in retaliation for the Jewish community's position in favour of civil rights.May 15, 1970 is known as Jackson State Killings. During the black student protests against the Vietnam War at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University), the National Guard intervenes. The challenge is degenerating. 2 students were killed and 12 others were injured. The tragedy occurred 11 days after similar events at Kent State University in Ohio where 4 students had already been killed by the National Guard.In 1997 Harvey Johnson Jr. (1946) was elected first African-American mayor of the city. He will serve until 2005 and will be re-elected from 2009 to 2013.In 2002, opening of the Belhaven University Center for the Arts.In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the South of the United States. Many homes and major buildings in the city are affected. The Committee Street area continues to have a deep impact on the disaster.The City TodayIn recent years, a considerable effort has been made to revitalize the city centre of Jacskson. In 2007, the new Mississippi Museum of Art was inaugurated. Then, in January 2009, it was the turn of the Jackson Convention Complex to open its doors. The following month, the Old Capitol, restored after the damage of Hurricane Katrina, is reopened to the public as the Old Capitol Museum. Finally, in 2011, the Art Garden of the Mississippi Museum of Art was inaugurated alongside the central pavilion. The event marks the th anniversary of the Mississippi Art Association.By December 2017, two new museums are very expected: the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. See www.2mississippimuseums.com