Beyond the Battle

An Art-Lover's Guide to Vicksburg

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Vicksburg is best known to the average visitor as one particular thing: a centerpiece of Civil War history. Because of the city's strategic location on the Mississippi, the forty-seven-day siege that led to the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863 gave the Union troops control of the Mississippi River, officially turning the tide of the war. Vicksburg was “the key,” as President Abraham Lincoln famously said, adding that “the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” Civil War history lovers flock here, considering Vicksburg a must-see battlefield on their bucket list.

I’ll just say it straight out.  I’m no military history buff. Yes, I’ve thoughtfully taken in the occasional battlefield, and I’ve made my pilgrimages to visit the grim memorials of World War II in Poland and Germany. But on vacation, I’ll take arts, culture, and cuisine over war history any day.

So, with some input from the helpful folks at the Vicksburg Tourist Information Center on Old Highway 27, just one of the region’s pretty ribbons of rolling country, I took a different track.

Art of Commemoration

The first suggested stop on my arts-focused journey was the 1,800-acre Vicksburg’s National Military Park, a verdant space dotted by more than 1,400 memorial monuments and markers paying tribute to all the states and battalions that fought in the Civil War. Wait … what?

“We started thinking that not everybody in every visiting family and group comes here because of Civil War history,” explained national park ranger Andrew Miller. Which is why in 2012, a group of park, military, art, and architecture experts put their heads together to come up with the “Art of Commemoration” guidebook, which takes a look at the stone memorials from a different perspective.

[Read Beth D'Addono's travel guide to Mississippi's Gulf Coast here.]

Although the guided tour covers a lot of literal ground, the best way to see the art behind the history in the leafy park is on foot, meandering over gentle hills and taking the time to get up close to the stories that play out in plaster, stone, and bronze.

“We started thinking that not everybody in every visiting family and group comes here because of Civil War history,” explained national park ranger Andrew Miller.

Throughout the park, the guidebook’s author Parker Hill points out that the sculptors and architects behind these monuments were influenced by the French Beaux-Arts movement grounded in the Greek classics. Architectural terms pepper the commentary, as the likes of porticos, friezes and cornices are identified. A sculpted bronze version of a bald eagle called “Old Abe” perches atop the Wisconsin Doric column. The three bronze figures in the 2004 Mississippi African American Monument honoring the 1st and 3rd infantry regiments are resting on a pedestal of African black granite. The eight-foot-high stone “Spirit of Michigan” gracing the towering Michigan memorial is modeled after the Greek goddess Athena, who stands in the Acropolis.

Stained Glass & Galleries

See the light filtering through the brilliance of “Music,” one of six Tiffany stained glass windows in the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Vicksburg, and it’s clear that all stained glass is not created equal. Tiffany glass was produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his team of artists from 1878 to 1933 when he died, and there are only about one hundred churches or museums around the world where that work is on display today.

The fact that church guide Brenda Hawkins encourages visitors to peer up close, even touch, these six gorgeous windows, filling the church with opalescent beauty, is astonishing. There are other perfectly fine German-crafted windows around the church, but they fade in comparison. “Peace” is another stunner, a square-jawed model clothed in voluminous robes in all shades of sunrise pink. In the “Archangel Raphael,” the angel’s wings rise up like blue flames from his back. Like the other windows, it was commissioned in honor of a passed parishioner, whose death left a legacy of brightly shining light.   

On the more traditional art front, Vicksburg is now home to a new gallery, its third, located in the back of the newly-opened Mulberry Hotel, a repurposed Margaritaville casino steps away from downtown. The Jackson Street Gallery at the Mulberry is an inviting, light-filled space representing more than sixty local artists. Owner Paula Jackson, who also has a gallery in Ridgeland, Mississippi, has more than twenty years’ experience forging relationships with talented artists of all stripes.

[Read Beth D'Addono's travel story about Paloma Lake in Plaquemines Parish here.]

Downtown, the H.C. Porter Gallery showcases the work of local artist Porter, an internationally-recognized painter, printmaker, and photographer. Her work fuses those talents into a singular keen-eyed vision, whether she’s focusing on blues artists or Civil War figures, her work is startlingly original. Also downtown, the Attic Gallery, at fifty-one the oldest independent art gallery in the state, displays a fetching collection of colorful outsider art that dives deep into Southern culture. Owner Lesley Silver is the gentle visionary at the gallery’s heart and soul, making each visit a balm for any art lover.

As I walked around town and down by the river, a slew of murals brought the town’s history and culture into focus, public art that brightens the landscape while edifying step by step.

Taste of Vicksburg

Art-seeking can sure conjure up an appetite. The Tomato Place on Highway 61 south of town is at the top of my must-eat list. If a dive bar married a roadside produce stand, this would be their baby.  The family-run spot offers pristine produce, locally-made sauces and honey, a case full of homemade smoothies, a scattering of funky seating inside and out, and a tomato-centric menu led by what may be the best BLT in the universe. It comes either with ripe red tomatoes or fried green ones, keeping company with perfectly grilled thick-cut bacon and crisp romaine leaves bursting from two slabs of country white slathered with mayo. There are other things on the menu: tuna melts, tomato pie, fried catfish, BBQ pork po-boy, but get this first and then keep eating.

The family-run spot offers pristine produce, locally-made sauces and honey, a case full of homemade smoothies, a scattering of funky seating inside and out, and a tomato-centric menu led by what may be the best BLT in the universe.

Back in town, Walnut Hills Restaurant is a gem, one of those downhome Southern spots with a big old lazy Susan in the center of every table. Get the fried chicken, period. It’s some of the best you’ll ever have, but the shrimp and grits and fried catfish are tough to ignore. Save room for dessert—the house-made cakes and pies tease from a come-hither restaurant display case. The carrot cake is outstanding, but the red velvet is a close second.

If I was planning date night, it would be catching the sunset with drinks at 10 South Rooftop Bar & Grill overlooking the river. Then dinner at Relish Bistro, a lunch and dinner spot from brothers Jason and James Penley. With exposed brick walls, mood lighting ,and a wine wall, this approachable spot dishes tasty Mediterranean fare, from prosciutto and fig flatbread to pasta Bolognese and steak frites. The house-made focaccia is a dream.

After just a few days in Vicksburg, my mind was open to seeing a new side of this lovely Southern town, a city of neighborhoods and folks who nod and say hello to friends and strangers on the street.  Fortunately for me, the Tomato Place was on the way home, since another BLT was absolutely on the itinerary. 

visitvicksburg.com