Jackson MS Landmarks

The Farish Street Historic District was a dynamic black business community years back. Neighborhood commerce leaders want to start to redevelop it by bringing back a few structures right into bars and restaurants. The Alamo Movie theater on historic Farish Street has been remodelled and is neighborhood owned. Back in the 1930s and 40s, Robert Johnson and also Jelly Roll Morton lived in the Farish Street area. Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and also Duke Ellington performed on Farish Street.

The Hawkins Field Airport is owned and operated by the City of Jackson and is made use of by the military as well as civilians. It was opened in 1928, and also cement runways were added in 1936. The U.S. Military used it for flight instruction in World War II and also substantially expanded it. In 1963, jet airplanes began service to Hawkins Field Airport. Hawkins Field Airport sits on 602 acres and has 2 runways in operation. 2 WW2 runways have actually been deserted for many years.

A public, primarily African-America college, Jackson State was established in 1877. The existing campus was initially constructed in 1902 and also currently includes 51 buildings on a 245-acre campus. The sports program belongs to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Walter Payton is its most famous graduate. 75% of Jackson State's students are from Jackson and also the state of Mississippi.

West of uptown Jackson, The Poindexter Park Historic District is going through a renaissance. Habitat for Humanity and Operation Weed and Seed work hard to restore the district. Poindexter Park has various recovered residences on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the old manors was owned by Mississippi's 2nd governor, George Poindexter. He was a delegate, representative, as well as senator that was born in 1779.

Starting in 1822, the Jackson Police Department has actually served the residents of Jackson MS. They began using uniforms in 1873, with detectives designated in 1878. A lot took place in 1909 with the addition of policemen on horseback, and also plain-clothes detectives. At an early stage, cops utilized telephone call boxes on light poles to respond to one-way radio transmissions. The current head office structure opened up in 1952 at 327 East Pascagoula Street and also it includes both the municipal court and prison. There are currently four precincts.

Jackson is the capital of Mississippi and also is one of 2 county seats of Hinds County. Named after General Andrew Jackson, it was developed in 1821 to be the state capital. After the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union troops captured Jackson and destroyed it. There was a gas boom in the 1920s, and it's nicknamed "The City with Soul."

The Jackson market has a population of 579,332. It belonged to the Choctaw nation at one time. Mississippi Choctaw are currently part of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and live in a number of Native-American communities in the state.

The initial European settler was Louis LeFleur, and also Jackson was originally known as LeFleur's Bluff. In 1821, a state-commissioned summary claimed LeFleur's Bluff was a beautiful area and had lots of water and timber and accessibility to the Natchez Trail. The site after that became the seat of state government. It was mapped in 1822 in a grid pattern, and city blocks contain many parks. The railway went through Jackson in 1840, which sparked development after the Civil War.

Jackson was a production facility for the Confederacy throughout the War Between the States, making it a target of Union troops in 1863. Since the city was destroyed, few antebellum structures have survived. Nonetheless, the Governor's Mansion, the Old Capitol, and the Jackson City Hall remain.

After the Civil War, financial recovery was sluggish. Mule-drawn streetcars became electric in 1899. A new capitol was built in 1903.

Born in Jackson in 1909, writer Eudora Welty won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for, "The Optimist's Daughter." The Jackson Town library was named for her, and her home is a National Historic Landmark. Jackson experienced a boom in the early 20th century, and also a new Union Station was built. The King Edward Hotel opened in 1923 and was a facility for prestigious occasions. The 1919 Standard Life Building established the record for the largest reinforced concrete building at the time.

Gas fields were discovered in 1930 resulting in an additional boom that reduced the effects of the Great Depression. This sector trailed off in 1955.

During Mississippi's prolonged Prohibition, alcohol consumption and gambling prospered on the opposite side of the river in Flowood's Gold Coast. Those organizations shut down when Mississippi became ended up being "wet" in 1966. The state enabled riverboat gambling in 1990, and many gambling establishments have opened up.

Hawkins Field ended up being an important U.S. Military airbase in World War II, housing the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School after Nazi Germany overwhelmed the Netherlands.

Jackson was an essential center of civil rights protests in the '60s and also was the terminus of the James Meredith March. Meredith was the first African American to register at the University of Mississippi. The first lung transplant occurred at the U of Mississippi Medical Facility in 1963. Malaco Records calls Jackson home and is a leader in gospel, blues, and soul. Paul Simon recorded at Malaco in 1973.

Harvey Johnson, Jr. ended up being Jackson's first African-American mayor in 1997, and also he was a champ for the Convention Center. Jackson was signified as one of the ten friendliest cities in the USA in 2013.

Jackson is in Hinds County and some areas of Madison and Rankin counties. The eastern boundary is the Pearl River. It's bordered on the north by Ridgeland, on the east by Flowood as well as Richland, the south by Byram and the west by Clinton. It has an overall landmass of 113.2 square miles and is drained by the Big Black and also Pearl Rivers.

Jackson rests on top of a dead volcano that's 2,900 feet underground. The buried peak is under the Mississippi Coliseum. Jackson-Evers International Airport has continuous service to 6 cities.