Jackson tourist information

The area that is now Jackson was first settled in 1792 by Louis LeFleur, a French-Canadian trader. During the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century the area was traversed by the Natchez Trace, on which a trading post stood before the Treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820 formally opened the area for non-native American settlers.

Strategic Center
Despite its small population, during the Civil War that followed, Jackson became a strategic center of manufacturing for the Confederate States of America. In 1863, during the campaign which ended in the capture of Vicksburg, Union forces captured Jackson during two battles—once before the fall of Vicksburg and once after the fall of Vicksburg.

Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty was born in Jackson in 1909, died there in 2001, and lived most of her life in the Belhaven section of the city. She wrote a memoir of her development as a writer, One Writer's Beginnings (1984), which gives a charming picture of the city in the early 20th century. Today, the main Jackson public library is named in her honor.

Richard Wright
Highly acclaimed African-American author Richard Wright, a native of Roxie, Mississippi, lived in Jackson as an adolescent and young man in the 1910s and 1920s, and relates his experience in his memoir Black Boy (1945). He describes the harsh and largely terror-filled life most African-Americans experienced in the South under segregation in the early twentieth century.

New Orleans Here we Come
Since 1960, Jackson has undergone a series of dramatic changes and growth. On May 24, 1961, during the American civil rights movement, a large group of Freedom Riders was arrested in Jackson for disturbing the peace after they disembarked from their bus. Although the Freedom Riders had planned to make New Orleans their final destination, Jackson was the farthest that any of them actually managed to travel.

Mayors
In 1997, Harvey Johnson, Jr. became the city's first African American mayor. During his term, he proposed the creation of a convention center, in hopes of attracting business to the city. He was replaced by Frank Melton on July 4, 2005. Melton has subsequently generated controversy through his unconventional behavior, which has included acting as a law enforcement officer.

Air Travel
Jackson is served by Jackson-Evers International Airport, located at Allen C. Thompson Field, east of the city in Flowood in Rankin County. Its IATA code is JAN.

On 22 December 2004, Jackson City Council members voted 6-0 to rename Jackson International Airport in honor of slain civil rights leader and field secretary for the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP, Medgar Evers. This decision took effect on 22 January 2005.

Formerly Jackson was served by Hawkins Field Airport, located in northwest Jackson, with IATA code HKS, which is now used for private air traffic only.

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Bus Service
JATRAN (Jackson Transit System) operates frequently during daytime hours, but bus operation is infrequent during nights and weekends.

Railroads
Jackson is served by the Canadian National Railway (formerly the Illinois Central Railroad). The Kansas City Southern Railway also serves the city. The Canadian National has a medium-sized yard downtown which Mill Street parallels and the Kansas City Southern has a large classification yard in Richland. Jackson is also served by Amtrak's City of New Orleans on a daily basis. Efforts for another Amtrak train, the Crescent Star, from Meridian, Mississippi to Dallas, Texas failed in 2003.

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