Jackson, Mississippi

December 17-18, 2017

Getting There

A check of the Geocache app let us know that there was an exhibit about the New Madrid Fault at a rest area in Missouri’s Bootheel.  The fault was named for New Madrid, Missouri, where devastating earthquakes occurred over a few months in 1811-12.  When Jane was in graduate school at the University of Memphis, she experienced a magnitude 5.0 earthquake along that fault line.  She was sitting in class when she felt shaking and wondered if she’d not been getting enough sleep.  The confused and startled faces  of her classmates let her know she wasn’t having a unique experience.  That quake did little damage.

             A map on the floor showed areas affected by those earthquakes.  The Mississippi River is shown in blue.

And the illustration above shows highest likelihood of seismic activity in red.  South Carolina??? Who knew?

Mississippi State Capitol

The present capitol was finished in 1903.  A new one was deemed necessary because the old capitol’s foundation sat on clay soil which expands and contracts depending on moisture available, causing structural problems including doors and windows that could not open or close.  To prevent such problems in the new building, the foundation was stabilized to 200 feet–with debris from the penitentiary which previously occupied the site.  The capitol was built with back taxes owed by the Illinois Central Railroad.

Rotunda

A Christmas tree reached from the basement up through to the rotunda.

Skylight in the rotunda

Detail of the skylight

The architect wanted to take advantage of newly-available electric lighting as seen surrounding this alcove. He used 4,750 bulbs in the Capitol; 750 in the rotunda alone.

Detail around Blind Justice motif in the rotunda.

House of Representatives

House of Representatives chamber from the gallery

Speaker of the House

Rear of the House chamber

Skylight in the House

Skylight detail

Architectural details include the coat of arms

Elaborate trim

NovelistJohn Grisham served in the House from 1983-90.  Our guide said he wrote A Time to Kill and The Firm there in between sessions.

Senate

Looking toward the rear of the Senate.

Dais in the Senate

Chairs in both houses are embossed with the state seal.  Members can buy their chairs when they leave the legislature.

                Marble columns in the Senate

Skylight

Theresa Whitecloud, a former Choctaw princess, faces the Senate floor from six panels.  Sadly, we haven’t been able to find out more about her.

Senators may use these phone booths.  We wish restaurants and other venues had similar facilities.

Supreme Court

The chamber that housed the Supreme Court is now used for committee meetings, but the bench is the same.

Stained Glass

The capitol contains over 70 stained glass windows.  Three of them grace the main staircase.

                A pioneer

                 Mother Mississippi

                Native American [In many government buildings, Euro-Americans are seen vanquishing the native population.  In the Mississippi capitol, Native Americans are presented as part of the population.]

Stained glass in ceiling

Hallways

Even the hallways are stunning in the Mississippi capitol.

                 We loved the elegance of the elevator.

Detailed relief work shows an appreciation for art.

Glass in the floor allows light to shine through to the hallway below.

LeFleur’s Bluff State Park

This facility is in the heart of the city of Jackson.  We loved its location, the trees and lake, and the large sites.  We weren’t fond of the mud, the gray and the rain but understand we have to accept less desirable situations along with the wonderful ones.