Mississippi
A bit of the blues? That’s a good thing.
Music figures prominently in the state’s heritage, whether blues, rock ‘n’ roll or country. The Mississippi Blues Trail recognizes blues pioneers, including Albert King, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke and B.B. King. Several museums in the Delta pay tribute to these artists, such as the B.B. King Museum in Indianola. On the Country Music Trail, notable names on markers include Charley Pride, Conway Twitty, Faith Hill and Tammy Wynette. Learn more about the “Father of Country Music,” Jimmie Rodgers, along with other notable Mississippi musicians, actors and artists at the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience in Meridian.
Nearly everyone the world over recognizes Elvis Presley, the perennial “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” See the legend’s birthplace and childhood home in Tupelo. Pose next to a life-size statue, portraying him at age 13, and step inside the church where his love for Southern gospel music began.
The Mississippi Freedom Trail commemorates the work of men and women in Mississippi during the Civil Rights movement at prominent locations throughout the state, including the Emmett Till marker in Money. Learn more at the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in the state capital of Jackson, which is also home to several sites on the Freedom Trail.
Explore a number of national and state parks, from Tishomingo State Park in northeast Mississippi to the white sand beaches of coastal Mississippi, which offer opportunities to play outdoors. Seek out even more cultural pursuits at museums and art galleries such as the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi. Book a stay at one of Mississippi’s many unique accommodations, whether a quaint bed-and-breakfast or a luxury boutique hotel – and keep those toes tapping.
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Fun Fact
In 1986, National Football League player and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton from Columbia, Mississippi, became the first American football player to appear on the front of a Wheaties cereal box.
In 1894, at Biedenharn’s Candy Store in Vicksburg, Joseph Biedenharn bottled Coca-Cola for the first time anywhere in the world.
The world's first human lung transplant was performed in 1963 at Jackson’s University of Mississippi Medical Center, followed a year later by the first heart transplant.