Portal:Mississippi

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Mississippi /ˌmɪsɪˈsɪpi/ (listen) is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi ("Great River"). Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and the 31st most populous of the 50 United States. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, which was cleared for cotton cultivation in the 19th century. Today, its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States. The state symbol is the Magnolia grandiflora tree.

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Meridian is a city in and the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. Along major highways, the city is 93 mi (150 km) east of Jackson, Mississippi; 154 mi (248 km) west of Birmingham, Alabama; 202 mi (325 km) northeast of New Orleans; and 231 mi (372 km) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. Established in 1860 at the intersection of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway of Mississippi, Meridian relied heavily on the rails and goods transported on them. Rebuilt after the war, the city entered a "Golden Age", becoming the largest city in Mississippi between 1890 and 1930 and a leading center for manufacturing in the South. It had 44 trains coming in and out daily. Although its economy slowed with the decline of the railroad industry, the city has diversified, with healthcare, military, and manufacturing employing the most people in 2010. The population within the city limits, according to 2008 census estimates, is 38,232, but a population of 232,900 in a 45-mile (72 km) radius and 526,500 in a 65-mile (105 km) radius, of which 104,600 and 234,200 people respectively are in the labor force, feed the economy of the city.

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Battle of Jackson, Mississippi - Gallant charge of the 17th Iowa, 80th Ohio and 10th Missouri, supported by the first and third brigades of the seventh division / sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Reg., O.V.I.

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"Mississippi" John Smith Hurt (born July 2, 1892 in Teoc, Mississippi in Carroll County - died November 2, 1966 in Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist.

Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age 9. He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farm hand into the 1920s. In 1923 he often partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour (Carroll County Blues) as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith. When Narmour got a chance to record for Okeh Records in reward for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, Narmour recommended John Hurt to OKeh Records producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, he took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (See Discography below). The "Mississippi" tag was added by OKeh as a sales gimmick. After the commercial failure of the resulting disc and OKeh records going out of business during the depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances. (read more . . . )

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Did you know...

...that condensed milk was invented and first canned in Liberty by Gail Borden?
...that the first bottle of Dr. Tichener's Antiseptic was produced in Liberty also?
...that the first female rural mail carrier in the United States was Mrs. Mamie Thomas? She delivered mail by buggy to the area southeast of Vicksburg in 1914.
...that in 1963 the University of Mississippi Medical Center accomplished the world's first human lung transplant and, on January 23, 1964, Dr. James D. Hardy performed the world's first heart transplant surgery?
...that the world's largest cactus plantation is in Edwards?
...that Burnita Shelton Mathews of Hazelhurst was the first woman federal judge in the United States and served in Washington, D.C.?
...that Mississippi was the first state in the nation to have a planned system of junior colleges?
...that David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the Soft Toilet Seat? Over 1,000,000 are sold every year.
...that the first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia?
...that the Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second largest national cemetery in the country? Arlington National Cemetery is the largest.
...that Pine Sol was invented in 1929 by Jackson native Harry A. Cole, Sr.?
...that root beer was invented in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr. and is still sold today as Barq's Root Beer?
...that Natchez was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River? Natchez once had 500 millionaires, more than any other city except New York City.
...that S.B. Sam Vick of Oakland played for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox? He was the only man ever to pinch hit for Babe Ruth.

Source: Rep. Bennie Thompson official U.S. House of Representative web site

State symbols

Flower	Magnolia
Motto	Virtute et armis (By Valor and Arms)
Nickname	The Magnolia State
Toy	Teddy bear
Rock	Petrified wood
See:	Mississippi Symbols for more

Mississippi news

Tornadoes in central US kill nearly two dozen people
Many killed in tornadoes across southern U.S.
Ole Miss player arrested; charged with selling steroids

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WikiProjects

Hello! As a past or current member of WikiProject Mississippi, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Mississippi, you are cordially invited to edit, assess, and improve our coverage of all things Mississippi on Wikipedia!

Web resources

Official State of Mississippi website

Spotlight city

Clinton is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. Situated in the Jackson metropolitan area, it is the tenth largest city in Mississippi.

Clinton, founded in 1823 was originally known as Mount Salus, which means "Mountain of health". Mount Salus was also the name of the home of Walter Leake, third governor of Mississippi, which was located in Clinton and built in 1812. It is supposedly the first brick house built in the United States. In 1828, the name was changed from Mount Salus to Clinton in honor of DeWitt Clinton, the former governor of New York. The first road through Mount Salus/Clinton was the Natchez Trace.

Confederate forces, as well as Union troops - both under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and General Sherman - briefly occupied Clinton during the American Civil War on the way to the Battle of Vicksburg in May 1863. During World War II, Camp Clinton was established, a German POW camp south of town which housed about 3,000 German soldiers. (read more . . . )