Best Web Design in Jackson, MS (2026)

Web Design for Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson is Mississippi's capital and largest city, a place that markets itself as 'The City with Soul' and backs it up with blues clubs, soul-food institutions, and deep civil-rights history. Set on LeFleur's Bluff above the Pearl River, it was burned so thoroughly during the Civil War that it earned the grim nickname 'Chimneyville.' Today it pairs state-government stability with a music and culinary heritage that runs from Farish Street juke joints to Malaco Records.

AppWT works with Jackson, MS businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Jackson

Also known as. The City with Soul (official slogan). Chimneyville (Civil War-era nickname from being burned to its chimneys). Jacktown / Jack-Town (colloquial). The Bold New City (mid-20th-century booster slogan).

History. Site settled in 1792 by French-Canadian trader Louis LeFleur and known as LeFleur's Bluff before statehood. Founded and designated the state capital in 1821, named for General (later President) Andrew Jackson, hero of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans; the legislature first met there in December 1822. Chosen over riverfront Natchez because its central location better served the whole state; the Treaty of Doak's Stand (1820) opened the land to settlement. Union forces under Sherman and Grant burned much of the city during the 1863 Vicksburg Campaign, leaving standing chimneys and the nickname 'Chimneyville.' An epicenter of the civil-rights movement: NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers was assassinated at his Jackson home in 1963. The Two Mississippi Museums (Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum) opened together downtown in December 2017. A near-collapse of the municipal water system in 2022 put Jackson's water under a federally appointed administrator.

Local economy. State government is a cornerstone employer; government jobs (municipal, state, federal) employ roughly 40,000 people across metro Jackson. University of Mississippi Medical Center is the state's largest hospital (about 722 beds) and a major healthcare/education employer. Nissan's assembly plant in nearby Canton anchors advanced manufacturing in the metro area, alongside employers like Continental and Entergy. Higher-education cluster includes Jackson State University, Millsaps College, Mississippi College, and Belhaven University. Home to Malaco Records, described as the country's 'last soul company,' still recording gospel, blues, and soul artists. Broader industries include healthcare, IT, food processing, and distribution/warehousing, insulated somewhat by the city's capital status.

Culture and community. Blues heartland with more than a dozen Mississippi Blues Trail markers; live blues at F. Jones Corner (open until roughly 4:30 a.m.) and Johnny T's Bistro & Blues. Farish Street Historic District, once called the 'Black Mecca of Mississippi,' was the center of Black business and music. Signature eats include the Big Apple Inn's pig-ear sandwiches and hot tamales, served on Farish Street since the 1930s, plus catfish, ribs, and soul food. Hal's St. Paddy's Parade & Festival draws big downtown crowds each spring, famously featuring the Sweet Potato Queens. Music festivals include Jackson Indie Music Week, the Farish Street Heritage Festival, and Cathead Jam; Jackson hosts the National Folk Festival (2025-2027). Literary legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty, who lived in the Belhaven neighborhood.

What makes Jackson distinct. The 'Chimneyville' nickname literally comes from Union troops burning the city and leaving mostly chimneys standing. The Big Apple Inn built its fame on 'smoke' (pig-ear) sandwiches and tamales, and its upstairs once housed Medgar Evers's NAACP office. The Sweet Potato Queens, founded in Jackson by Jill Conner Browne, grew into thousands of registered chapters across more than 20 countries. F. Jones Corner keeps blues going into the early-morning hours, a rarity for a state capital. Jackson's 2022 water crisis left the city's system under a federally appointed administrator, a national story about aging infrastructure. Malaco Records earned the tag 'the last soul company' for keeping the deep-soul and gospel recording tradition alive.

Jackson Landmarks and Local Life

• Mississippi State Capitol (the current 1903 Beaux-Arts building) and the Old Capitol Museum.
• Two Mississippi Museums: the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
• Eudora Welty House and Garden in Belhaven - preserved as the author left it
• Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument - the site of Evers's 1963 assassination
• Mississippi Museum of Art and the LeFleur's Bluff State Park green space along the Pearl River.
• Farish Street Historic District and the walkable Fondren arts-and-dining district.