Jackson, MS – Agriculture and Forestry/National Agricultural Aviation Museum

What a long name for this other key attraction in Jackson!

It’s easy to find: 1150 Lakeland Drive, exit 98-B on I-55, Jackson, MS, 39216. Phone 601-713-3365. It’s adjacent to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Hours: Open Mon-Sat, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sundays. Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

Per the brochure, “the Museum depicts the dominant forces that have shaped the history and economy of the state. The exhibits, showing the powerful roles of agriculture and forestry, help to express the fact that Mississippi, as well as America, has a heritage that is linked to our soil.”

And we can verify that the 35,000 sq. ft. Heritage Center does an excellent job of doing exactly that! There’s even a section devoted to “crop dusters” and the evolution of the airplanes used in the state’s agriculture, complete with vintage planes! Other sections explain Mississippi’s cotton farming and ginning, the state’s timber industry, and food production.

Outside, you’ll find the pre-Civil War Fortenberry-Parkman Farm. Started in 1860, the entire farmstead was moved from its original site in south MS and restored as it was in the 1920’s.

Another outside exhibit is “Small Town Mississippi”, a reconstruction of a typical small town of the 1920’s to 1930’s. It’s very well done. Here are just some of the buildings:

There’s a cane mill and the Bisland Cotton Gin. Both are operated for display purposes in the fall after cane is cut and cotton is picked. A photo of the gins, showing the machines which remove the cotton seeds:

Every community relied on its local gristmill to grind each family’s supply of corn meal and flour. I enjoyed this sign near the old gristmill machinery on display. Indeed, “grits and corn bread are somewhat peculiar to this region”!! Corn bread, corn muffins, hushpuppies…what would a southern meal be without them?

Finally, you MUST see the Fitzgerald Collection, the truly remarkable result of one couple’s lifetime accumulation of Mississippi-Americana. Among other things, this includes 17,500 Native American artifacts and a gun collection. If an item could be “collected”, the Fitzgerald’s gave it a try!

A photo of the building which houses the collection and one of the original sign from the Fitzgerald’s home in Inverness, MS, which now hangs in front of the building.