Jackson Facts
Fact 1: Before becoming the state capital, Jackson was a literally one man's vision. French Canadian Louis Le Fleur settled the area in 1792 and called it Le Fleur's Bluff. Because of its location along the Pearl River, Le Fleur's Bluff became a stopping point for those traveling through the Old Natchez Trace. In 1821, the leaders of Mississippi chose to establish the state capital in the area, which was renamed Jackson.
Fact 2: Looking for something old, something new? You can find it in Jackson! The city is home to more than forty antique shops, fifteen shopping centers, two malls, and a variety of specialty shops. The multitude of destinations makes shopping ‘til you drop a reality!
Fact 3: Jackson, the largest city in Mississippi, also serves as the state's capital. The city was named after Major General Andrew Jackson, who helped negotiate the Treaty of Doak's Stand and who later became president. It was this settlement that resulted in the Choctaw ceding large parcels of Mississippi land to the United States.
Fact 4: Thomas Jefferson recommended the checkerboard layout of the city. Every other square was reserved as being a park or green. Today, the Old Capitol and the Old Capitol Green on which it stands is one of the few remaining examples of this plan.
Fact 5: During the Civil War, Jackson played an important role as Confederate capitol of Mississippi. Unfortunately, the city was attacked in 1863, when the Union army destroyed the city. All recorded history was burned when General Sherman's troops set the city ablaze. The city was burned three times during the war, leaving only five buildings and rows and rows of chimneys in the aftermath. These events earned Jackson the nickname, "Chimneyville."
Fact 6: Which came first? The city or the farm? The city! The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum complex looks as though it was abandoned in the middle of a growing city. However, the city was here first. All ten farm buildings were brought to Jackson from Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi and placed as they were prior to the move. The site resembles a small Mississippi town as it would have looked during the 1920's.
Fact 7: C. W. Welty and his wife, Chestina, built the home at 741 Congress Street. Their daughter, Eudora, is Jackson's famed short story writer and novelist. Eudora was born in the master bedroom on the second floor in 1909.
Fact 8: Mississippi's Governor's Mansion has been the official home to the state's first family since 1842. It is the second oldest continuously occupied governor's residence in the country. The mansion is only one of two gubernatorial homes to be designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Fact 9: James Hervey Bard, who was city mayor from 1853-58, built Jackson's oldest standing home, the Oaks. Also known as Bard House, it was occupied by General Sherman and used as his headquarters during his siege of Jackson.
Fact 10: Flora, home to the only petrified forest in the eastern United States, is not far from Jackson. At 36 million years old, the site has earned a spot as a Registered National Natural Landmark.
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