Mississippi State Facts - Mississippi History Firsts

Catch up on your state trivia with these Mississippi history firsts and interesting fun facts about the state.

Official Name Mississippi
Capital Jackson
Location
Region
32.32050 N, 090.20759 W
South
Constitution Ratified 1890
Statehood December 10, 1817
20th state
Number of Counties 82 Counties in Mississippi
Largest County
(by population)
Hinds County
250,800
569 sq. mi.

Mississippi History Firsts & State Facts



More Mississippi History Firsts & State Facts

  • First nuclear submarine built in the south was produced in Mississippi.
  • Mississippi River is the largest in the United States and is the nation's chief waterway. Nickname is Old Man River.
  • Mississippi has a larger percentage of black residents than any other state.
  • Although cotton is the most important crop in Mississippi, corn, peanuts, pecans, rice, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, soybeans, food grains, poultry, eggs, meat animals, dairy products, feed crops and horticultural crops are all important to the state's economy.
  • Nearly 60% of Mississippi is covered by forests, and more than 100 species of trees are found in the state.
  • Borden's Condensed Milk was first canned in Liberty.
  • World's largest shrimp is on display at the Old Spanish Fort Museum in Pascagoula.
  • First bottle of Dr. Tichener's Antiseptic was produced in Liberty.
  • World's largest cactus plantation is in Edwards.
  • William Grant Still of Woodville composed the Afro-American Symphony.
  • Burnita Shelton Mathews of Hazelhurst was the first woman federal judge in the United States and served in Washington, the District of Columbia.
  • Dr. Emmette F. Izard of Hazelhurst developed the first fibers of rayon. They became known as the first real synthetics.
  • First state in the nation to have a planned system of junior colleges.
  • Leontyne Price of Laurel performed with the New York Metropolitan Opera.
  • Mississippi is the birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star.
  • The rarest of North American cranes lives in Mississippi in the grassy savannas of Jackson County. The Mississippi Sandhill Crane stands about 44 inches tall and has an eight-foot wingspan.
  • S.B. Sam Vick of Oakland played for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He was the only man ever to pinch hit for the baseball great Babe Ruth.
  • Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc. in West Point is proclaimed to make the very best snow sled in the United States, which became an American tradition. It is called The Flexible Flyer.
  • Largest Bible-binding plant in the nation is Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood.
  • After the Civil War, famed hat maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced his trade at Dunn's Falls near Meridian.
  • World's largest cottonwood tree plantation is in Issaquena County.
  • David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the Soft Toilet Seat. Over 1,000,000 are sold every year.
  • First football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia.
  • Greenwood is the home of Cotton Row, which is the second largest cotton exchange in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Oldest game in America is stickball. The Choctaw Indians of Mississippi played the game. Demonstrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia.
  • International Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal.
  • Natchez now has more than 500 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Natchez Trace Parkway, named an All American Road by the federal government, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace began as an Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago.
  • Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second largest national cemetery in the country. Arlington National Cemetery is the largest.
  • D'Lo was featured in "Life Magazine" for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II than any other town of its size. 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served.
  • Mississippi suffered the largest percentage of people who died in the Civil War of any Confederate State. 78,000 Mississippians entered the Confederate military. By the end of the war 59,000 were either dead or wounded.
  • World's largest pecan nursery is in Lumberton.
  • Greenwood is called the Cotton Capital of the World.
  • Belzoni is called the Catfish Capital of the World.
  • Vardaman is called the Sweet Potato Capital of the World.
  • Greenville is called the Towboat Capital of the World.
  • Of Mississippi's 82 counties, Yazoo County is the largest and Alcorn County is the smallest.
  • At Vicksburg, the United States Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station is the world's largest hydraulic research laboratory.
  • At Pascagoula the Ingalls Division of Litton Industries uses leading-edge construction techniques to build the United State Navy's most sophisticated ships. At the state's eight research centers programs are under way in acoustics, polymer science, electricity, microelectronics, hydrodynamics, and oceanography.
County Information and County History
State Facts & History Firsts
State Fun Facts - History Firsts