Jackson

City, capital of Mississippi, U.S. It lies along the Pearl River, in the west-central part of the state, about 180 miles (290 km) north of New Orleans, Louisiana. Jackson is also the coseat (with nearby Raymond) of Hinds county. Settled (1792) by Louis LeFleur, a French-Canadian trader, and known as LeFleur's Bluff, it remained a trading post until the Treaty of Doak's Stand (October 18, 1820) opened the territory to white settlement. Selected as the site for the state capital and named for General Andrew Jackson, it was laid out (April 1822) using Thomas Jefferson's checkerboard plan with alternate squares designated as parks. The state legislature first met there December 23, 1822. The first railroad arrived by 1840.

During the Vicksburg campaigns of the American Civil War the city was occupied twice by Union troops; when it was reduced to ashes (July 1863) by General William Tecumseh Sherman's forces, it became known as “Chimneyville.” After the Civil War, Jackson was troubled by a corrupt city government run by carpetbaggers, and its recovery was slow until the arrival of new railroads in the 1880s. The Old Capitol (1840)—scene of the state secession vote (1861) and Constitutional Convention (1890), and restored as a historical museum—was replaced by the New Capitol (1903) in gray stone. The Governor's Mansion (1842) served as headquarters for Sherman.

The discovery of nearby natural gas fields in the 1930s supplied cheaper fuel and stimulated industrial growth. Jackson is a major distribution and transportation centre. Telecommunications and government services are major components of the economy; poultry processing and the manufacture of automotive parts are also important. A flood-control project on the Pearl River (constructed in the 1960s and impounding Ross R. Barnett Reservoir) has provided industrial, agricultural, and recreational benefits.

The city is the home of Millsaps College (1890), Belhaven College (1883), Jackson State University (1877), University of Mississippi Medical Center (1955), and two campuses of Hinds Community College (1917). Mississippi College (1826) is in nearby Clinton. Annual events include the Dixie National Western Festival, Rodeo, and Livestock Show (February); the Crossroads Film Festival (April); and the Mississippi State Fair (October). LeFleur's Bluff State Park is nearby. Inc. 1823. Pop. (1990) city, 196,637; Jackson MSA, 395,396; (2000) city, 184,256; Jackson MSA, 440,801.

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