Information and history of the state of Mississippi

First explored for Spain by Hernando de Soto, who discovered the Mississippi River in 1540, the region was later claimed by France In 1699, the French established the first permanent settlement.

Great Britain took over the area in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars, ceding it to the U.S. in 1783 after the Revolution.

On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union.

Some Mississippi Symbols

1. State Bird	2. State Mammal	3. State Flower	4. State Stone	5. State Reptile
6. State Tree	7. State Insect	8. State Fossil	9. State Fish	10. State Soil

1. Mockingbird - The Mockingbird was designated the official state bird of Mississippi in 1944.
2. White-Tailed Deer- Mississippi designated the white-tailed deer as official state land mammal in 1974.
3. Magnolia - Mississippi designated the magnolia as the official state flower in 1952. Mississippi's nickname is The Magnolia State.
4. Petrified Wood - Mississippi designated petrified wood as the official state stone in 1976.
5. American Alligator - Mississippi designated the American Alligator as the official state reptile in 2005.
6. Magnolia Tree - Mississippi adopted the magnolia as the official state tree in 1938.
7. Honeybee - The honeybee was designated the state Insect of Mississippi in 1980. Honeybees live in hives of up to 80,000 individuals.
8. Prehistoric Whale - Mississippi designated prehistoric whales as the official state fossil in 1981.
9. Largemouth Bass - Mississippi designated the largemouth bass in 1974. This black bass lives in quiet, vegetation-rich waters.
10. Natchez silt loam - Natchez soils are along the bluffs of the Mississippi Delta and are throughout the full length of the state. Mississippi designated Natchez soil as the official state soil in 1988.

Did you know?

• The first female rural mail carrier in the United States was Mrs. Mamie Thomas.
• In 1884 the concept of selling shoes in boxes in pairs (right foot and left foot) occurred in Vicksburg at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor on Washington Street.
• Root beer was invented in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, Sr.
• The Mississippi River is the largest in the United States and is the nation's chief waterway. Its nickname is Old Man River.
• Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, on January 8, 1935.
• Friendship Cemetery in Columbus has been called Where Flowers Healed a Nation. It was April 25, 1866, and the Civil War had been over for a year when the ladies of Columbus decided to decorate both Confederate and Union soldiers' graves with beautiful bouquets and garlands of flowers. As a direct result of this kind gesture, Americans celebrate what has come to be called Memorial Day each year, an annual observance of recognition of war dead.