Category: Jackson, Mississippi

Battle of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi

The Battle of Jackson – Led To The Union Capture Of The Mississippi State Capital

Hamilton Historical Records
Sketch of the Battle of Jackson.

On May 14, 1863, the Battle of Jackson, which was part of the months long Vicksburg Campaign, was faught at Jackson, Mississippi after the Union victory at the Battle of Vicksburg. The Union Army, under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant, captured the Mississippi State Capital, including the Old State Capital Building where the the state secession vote was held, which forced the state legislature to move to the Lowndes County Courthouse.

Jackson, Mississippi, Saint Louis, Missouri, Theodore C. Link

The Capital Building Of Mississippi – Constructed On The Site Of The Old State Penitentiary

Hamilton Historical Records
The Mississippi State Capital building.

The Mississippi State Capital building was designed by Theodore C. Link, an architect from Saint Louis, Missouri.

Photograph of German born architect Theodore C. Link.

The Mississippi State Capital was constructed on the site of the Old State Penitentiary in Jackson, Mississippi, that was once used as a munitions factory during the U.S. Civil War, when prisoners were temporarily re-located to county jails before the capture of the penitentiary during the Battle of Jackson. The Mississippi Capital building has been the seat of the state government since 1901.

Author’s Note:

The Old Mississippi State Capital Building In Jackson, Mississippi was built in 1839 and served as the seat of state government until 1903. The 1839 Married Women’s Property Act, Mississippi’s secession from the Union in 1861, and the crafting of the 1868 and 1890 state constitutions were all conducted in the old capital building. Currently, the structure is the site of the Old Capital Museum.

The Old Mississippi State Capital Building.
Jackson, Mississippi, LeFleur's Bluff, Mississippi, President Andrew Jackon

Jackson, Mississippi – Named After President Andrew Jackson

Hamilton Historical Records

In 1821, four years after Mississippi became a state the city of Jackson, was founded at the site of a trading post situated on a bluff on the west bank of the Pearl River. Legend tells that the trading post was operated by a French-Canadian trader named Louis LeFleur, and the town originally was called LeFleur’s Bluff, Mississippi.

U.S. Army Major General Andrew Jackson in battle.

On November 28, 1821, a legislative act authorized the area of LeFleur’s Bluff to be the permanent seat of government for the state and for the town to renamed to Jackson, in honor of U.S. Army Major General Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson would later become the seventh President of the United States after having the capital of Mississippi named after him.