Jackson: government, history, and nature make for a full day of sightseeing in Mississippi's capital - If You Only Have A Day In …

Travel America, May-June, 2003 by Darlene P. Copp

EVEN AS A THRIVING DISTRIBUtion center for the South, rich with educational and medical facilities, modern Jackson is one of a legion of Southern places that carries deep scars from the mid-1860s. After Union troops set fire to Mississippi's capital in 1863, the city's charred remains prompted its apt if unhappy nickname, "Chimneyville." Originally named for Major General Andrew Jackson at its founding in 1821, the state of Mississippi's largest city preserves the few remaining landmarks that predate the Civil War as historical attractions, most of which can easily be seen during a day's visit.

If it's a Tuesday through Friday morning, you shouldn't miss a tour of the Greek Revival Governor's Mansion, notable as the second oldest continuously occupied gubernatorial residence in the U.S. Built in 1842, this National Historic Landmark retains its original woodwork and contains exquisite antiques since its 1972 renovation. When you first see the nearby State Capitol, you may think you've been transported to Washington, D.C., so similar is Mississippi's seat of government to the nation's Capitol. Besides regularly scheduled tours, self-guiding tour information is available.

If so inclined, you could well spend half your day in the Old Capitol Museum, another National Historic Landmark that housed all governmental activities from 1839 to 1903, including passage of the Ordinance of Secession in 1861. After extensive restoration, this stunning Greek Revival statehouse became the state historical museum in 1961. Just admiring the dome of its rotunda is worth going inside, but its many rooms of displays are exceptional, as evidenced by its recently being designated a Smithsonian Affiliate. Colonization and its effect on Native American societies, evolution of the cotton culture, roots of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow laws are among topics probed in an array of exhibits. An award-winning Civil Rights exhibit is the first permanent one on the subject in the country.

A short drive from these major downtown sites, the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center occupies Jackson's first public school for African-American children, among whom was author Richard Wright. One example of the museum's several compelling exhibits is "Field to Factory," which details the experience of African-American migration, 1915-1940. It's another short drive to the Manship House Museum, a studied look at the 1857 home of the mayor who surrendered Jackson to General Sherman. Charles Henry Manship was also an ornamental painter by trade, and the artistry he displayed in his own house has been faithfully restored, along with every aspect of the house's unusual Gothic Revival architecture.

On Jackson's non-historical roster of activities, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, opened March 2000, pays homage to the beauty and diversity of nature in the state. Exhibits cover terrestrial and aquatic habitats, highlighted by 20 aquariums, plus both extinct and endangered species. Located within LeFleur's Bluff State Park, the museum includes interpreted nature trails.

A short visit anywhere can be enhanced by spending the night at a local inn, and Jackson has two outstanding ones. In 1888, Major Reuben Webster Millsaps, founder of Jackson's Millsaps College, built a 6,000-square-foot Queen Anne manse topped by an octagonal observatory. After the house stayed in his family for four generations, in 1987 his descendants opened the Millsaps Buie House, convenient to downtown sightseeing, as Jackson's first bed and breakfast, offering 11 elegantly furnished rooms. Within the Belhaven Historic District, the 1908 Fairview Inn earned Conde Naste Johansens' 2003 Most Outstanding Inn award for North America and the Caribbean.

Shopping opportunities would take more than a day to explore, but try not to end your brief stay before browsing the creations of the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi at either of two locations: The Mississippi Crafts Center fills a dogtrot cabin on the Natchez Trace Parkway, the recreational roadway that skirts the capital on its course between Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee. And the Chimneyville Crafts Gallery shares space in the 40-acre complex of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, a place to see your next time in Jackson.

Contact: Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 354-7695; www.visitjackson.com.