Founded in 1821 at the site of a trading post on a high bluff on the west bank of the Pearl River, Jackson was originally a village called LeFleur’s Bluff, named after French-Canadian explorer and trader Louis LeFleur.

When the Mississippi legislature wanted a central site for the state’s capital, the village’s proximity to navigable water, abundant timber, and the Natchez Trace made the area a logical choice. On December 23, 1822, the state assembly met for the first time in the new and permanent seat of government for Mississippi, and the town was renamed Jackson in honor of Major General Andrew Jackson who later became the 7 th President of the United States. The city was designed following Thomas Jefferson’s “checkerboard” layout with alternating squares for business, residential, and “green space.”

In its first 100 years, Jackson’s growth was painfully slow. Under the command of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, the city was ravaged and burned three times by Union Troops during the Civil War. This is where Jackson got its nickname “Chimneyville.” Fortunately, the Governor’s Mansion (completed in 1842), City Hall (built in 1846) and the Old Capitol (built in 1839) were spared.

As the state capitol, the city of Jackson played an important role in politics and government during its first century – a role it still holds today. And even though Jackson was a focal point of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, its residents banded together to bring about positive changes from the troublesome era. Today, the city boasts one of the few Civil Rights Driving Tours in the United States and the Old Capitol Museum created the first Civil Rights Exhibit in the country.