Location: Jackson
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7 History Museums in Jackson That You Shouldn't Miss
Hospitality and history make the capital city a great choice for a weekend jaunt. At Smith Robertson Museum, examine African-American struggles and triumphs. Historic Farish Street, a growing entertainment district, reveals a rich Blues heritage. Visit the Old Capitol Museum, the Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural Science, the Zoo, the Mississippi Children’s Museum and more. Find events, accommodations and restaurants to complete your experience in a city with soul.
Restaurants in Jackson
1. Eudora Welty House and Garden
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 121 reviews
For seventy-six years, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty lived and wrote in her Jackson home at 1119 Pinehurst Street. Restored by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History after her death in 2001, the house is open for tours.
Reviewed By 530JulieB530 - New Orleans, United States
I loved every moment of my time here. I had read the book "One Writer's Garden" and it was the perfect stage-setter for my visit. The docent was knowledgeable and gave a good tour. The tour begins with a video which was very helpful, and I returned to the Visitor Center after the tour. It helped that I was there on a gorgeous April day. The camellias were almost done, but azaleas were beautiful and roses just beginning to bloom.
2. Mississippi Civil Rights Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 194 reviews
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum shares the stories of a Mississippi movement that changed the nation. The museum promotes a greater understanding of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and its impact by highlighting the strength and sacrifices of its peoples. Visitors will witness the freedom struggle in eight interactive galleries that show the systematic oppression of black Mississippians and their fight for equality that transformed the state and nation. Seven of the galleries encircle a central space called This Little Light of Mine. There, a dramatic sculpture glows brighter and the music of the Movement swells as visitors gather.
Reviewed By grandmareviews1952
The museum is amazing. You can step into the jail cell or watch videos of what led to the civil rights movement. The museum is filled with people and events that are displayed from the floor to the ceiling. We didn't have enough time to see the upstairs, so be sure to allow enough time to see everything. It is very moving to see how men and women believed in a better world for their families and what the sad reality of it was like for them to do so.
3. Museum of Mississippi History
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 43 reviews
Located in the heart of downtown Jackson, the museum explores over 15,000 years of state history. Visitors will enjoy innovative exhibits, educational programs, and hundreds of artifacts.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Mississippi has come a long way since the Civil War and the turbulent 1960s and it's all available for one and all to see at the Museum of Mississippi History in Jackson, Mississippi. Located at 222 North Street, combined with the equally impressive Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, it covers the history of the state as far back as 13,000 BC. Exhibits cover everything from Hernando De Soto to 19th century slavery to the Cotton Kingdom to the Civil War to Reconstruction to the Great Depression to Prohibition to the Civil Rights Movement to Hurricane Katrina. On the cutesy side, see the crown that Mary Ann Mobley wore when she won the Miss America pageant in 1958. But start with the First Peoples exhibit, which dates to 13,000 BC and traces life in Mississippi to 1518, with stories of Choctaw and Chickasaw people and artifacts such as a 500-year-old dugout canoe, weapons, pottery, tools and other archaeological discoveries. Other must-see exhibits are Mississippi Distilled, popping the cork on Prohibition, with stories of piety and politics in the "wettest dry state," where Prohibition began in 1908, 12 years before it became a national law; Cultural Crossroads 1519-1798, documenting Native Americans who first inhabited the state and Hernando De Soto and other European explorers who came later; Joining the United States 1799-1832, documenting the arrival of African-Americans, statehood for Mississippi, examining the Bowie knife, dueling pistols and other weapons that determined frontier justice and how federal laws forced Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations to leave their ancestral homelands; Cotton Kingdom 1833-1865, featuring the earliest photographs taken in Mississippi and comparing the lives of an enslaved family, yeoman farmers and wealthy planters, noting that by 1984 there were more slaves than whites in Mississippi; The World Remade 1866-1902, Reconstruction in Mississippi, the story of a Mississippi businessman who first bottled Coca-Cola and a collection of tools used by African-American blacksmiths; Promise and Peril 1903-1927, witness the struggles of suffragettes Nellie Nugent Somerville and Belle Kearney in their quest for equal rights, see a lamp used during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and explore changes and challenges that Mississippi faced at the turn of the century; Bridging Hardship 1928-1945, documents how the Great Depression crippled Mississippi, how FDR's New Deal put Mississippi back to work and displays a baseball glove owned by Willie Mitchell, a Mississippi native who once struck out Babe Ruth; and Forging Ahead, 1946 to present, allows visitors to survey damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and see how the struggle for civil rights raged in courtrooms, how Mississippi moved forward in industry, technology and immigration, how a diverse array of activists, artisans, entrepreneurs, politicians and everyday citizens contributed to the Mississippi story. For outsiders, it's a very fascinating journey through the history of a state that has undergone dramatic changes.
4. Old Capitol Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 213 reviews
COVID-19 UPDATE: Based on information provided by the Mississippi Department of Health about the coronavirus epidemic, we are temporarily closed until further notice. Jackson’s oldest building, the Old Capitol is home to a museum exploring the history of the site when it was the seat of Mississippi government from 1839 to 1903. The Old Capitol was the site of some of the state’s most significant legislative actions, such as the passage of the 1839 Married Women’s Property Act, Mississippi’s secession from the Union in 1861, and the crafting of the 1868 and 1890 state constitutions. The building is a National Historic Landmark, and one of the country’s premier examples of Greek Revival public architecture. When it was built in 1839, the massive limestone exterior, copper dome, and grand interior spaces made the Old Capitol the most distinguished building in Mississippi.
Reviewed By ianmantel
So much history packed into just 200 years. Great staff, well informed, happy to help Brits understand the way the Capitol worked and the set up of US politics, state and federal.
5. Oaks Museum House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 10 reviews
We invite you to visit The Oaks for a tour! Whether you're stopping to stretch your legs in the gardens or touring the house, we think you will enjoy stepping back in time at The Oaks House Museum. To schedule a tour on a day we're not open, please contact us at the email or phone number in our listing. About us: The Oaks (Boyd House) was built circa 1853 and is one of few extant structures in Mississippi's capital city that survived the ravages of the Civil War. An urban farmstead, it was the home of early Jackson mayor, James H. Boyd, his wife Eliza, and their six children and numerous grandchildren. The house, with original and period furnishings, and its Victorian gardens transport the visitor to 19th-century life in Jackson. The Oaks is owned by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Mississippi and is administered by The Oaks House Museum Corporation.
6. William F. Winter Archives and History Building
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2 reviews
The William F. Winter Archives and History Building is headquarters to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and home to the MDAH Archives and Records Services Division. Lobby hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
7. City of Jackson Fire Museum
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