The capital city's LeFleur Museum District encompasses four distinct Mississippi institutions, each of which showcase the state’s contributions to disciplines ranging from science and sports to agriculture and opera. A destination for culture and urban living in Jackson, the Fondren neighborhood is known for music and visual arts and boasts dozens of locally owned and operated eateries, bars, and coffee shops, as well as notable galleries and eclectic architecture.
Courtesy Mississippi Development Authority
We’ll start with the Mississippi Museum Of Natural Science (MMNS), where patrons can explore the fascinating flora and fauna of the Magnolia State from its three-hundred-acre natural landscape tucked within Bluff State Park. The museum encompasses nearly 75,000 square feet of diverse habitat exhibits, which include displays of white-tailed deer, soaring waterfowl, and rare prehistoric fossil specimens, along with a 100,000-gallon aquarium network housing more than two hundred living species, including native reptiles, fish, and amphibians. Its campus also features "The Swamp," a 1,700-square foot greenhouse, and 2.5 miles of nature trails that meander through wooded bluffs, river bottoms, lakes, and scenic swamplands.
Conveniently located on LeFleur’s Bluff Complex, the shared campus between the MMNS and the Mississippi Children’s Museum, a new state-of-the-art playground has been hailed “the best playground in Mississippi.” The playground spans thirty thousand square feet, and is separated into different play areas based on age, for children six months to twelve years old. It features several impressive and innovative play structures, nearly all of which are inclusive to children with accessibility needs. The playground fulfills the first phase of a multi-purpose complex; two additional projects, The Den (an outdoor pavilion) and Spotter’s Adventure Trail (a museum walking trail) are slated to be implemented later this year.
Courtesy Mississippi Development Authority
The Mississippi Museum of Art began as the Mississippi Art Association, established in 1911, with a small collection of paintings. Since becoming the Mississippi Museum of Art in 1978, the collection has grown to more than 5,800 objects, with particular strength in American art from the 19th and 20th centuries by some of the country’s most prominent artists, including Robert Henri, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, and Radcliffe Bailey. The Mississippi Story, a free ongoing exhibition of more than two hundred objects from the museum’s permanent collection, offers residents and visitors alike the opportunity to explore the remarkable history of visual arts in the Magnolia State. Inspired by Margaret Walker’s epic poem, “This is My Century: Black Synthesis of Time,” the permanent collection New Symphony of Time expands and illuminates the boundaries of Mississippi’s narrative, laying the groundwork for an ever-evolving collection. Lovers of the written word will be pleased to find two literary attractions within the Capital Region, and even more throughout the state.
Courtesy of Visit Mississippi
Eudora Welty Literary Trail Marker
Jackson, Mississippi Belhaven District
Launched in 2018, the Mississippi Writers Trail features the stories of some of America’s greatest storytellers. The Mississippi Writers Trail pays tribute to the state’s most acclaimed and influential writers, Natasha Trethewey, Richard Wright, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, Larry Brown, Jesmyn Ward, and more. If you’re among their fans, you won’t want to miss the open-book-shaped markers along the Mississippi Writers Trail that highlight the hometowns and sites that were pivotal to Mississippi’s native sons and daughters—those whose names will live on forever through their award-winning literary works. The first marker was placed at the Jackson home of Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty, who let readers explore and experience her home state by using its small towns and rural landscapes as the settings of her books. There’s also the Richard Wright Library, named after the prolific Native Son writer and poet, which hosts regular book readings. Lemuria Books has been open since 1975. With floor-to-ceiling shelves, that quintessential book smell, and a little bit of Southern hospitality,
Courtesy Mississippi Development Authority
The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum sits on a thirty-nine acre campus that encompasses twenty-nine permanent exhibits spanning five hundred years of Mississippi’s agricultural history; from the early contributions to agriculture of the Choctaw population, to turn of the century forest conservation, to modern catfish farming. The museum also features a living history farm, an entire crossroads town, a forest study area, gardens for specialty crops, herbs, and roses, and a children’s barnyard. The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a testament to the competitive spirit, athletic history, and sports heritage of the Magnolia State, from the sandlot to the Super Bowl.
A vibrant culture of Southern food, crafts, literature, and music offers a weekend of diversions, but it’s Jackson's welcoming spirit that will linger longest. For all the resources needed to begin planning your getaway, visit mississippitourguide.com.
Sponsored by Mississippi Development Authority
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