Mississippi (U.S. State) - Facts for Kids

Fun State Symbols

Mississippi's current state flag was adopted in 2021 after the previous flag, which contained a Confederate symbol, was retired.

The mockingbird became Mississippi's state bird in 1944, and these talented birds can learn up to 200 different songs!

The magnolia tree became Mississippi's state tree in 1938, and these evergreen trees can live for more than 100 years.

The honeybee became Mississippi’s state insect in 1980, and a single honeybee makes only about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!

Go, Mississippi” is the state song of Mississippi, written by Houston Davis in 1962 and officially adopted that same year!

The nickname "The Magnolia State" became popular because magnolia trees are so common there and grow naturally throughout the state.

The bottlenose dolphin is Mississippi's state water mammal, officially recognized in 1974.

The largemouth bass is Mississippi's state fish, known for its size and strength, with some growing up to 2 feet long!

Milk was named Mississippi’s state beverage in 1984, and today the state has fewer than 100 dairy farms.

The Mississippi state butterfly is the spicebush swallowtail, which has beautiful black wings with blue spots.

The state fossil of Mississippi is the prehistoric whale Basilosaurus, which lived about 40 million years ago and grew up to 60 feet long!

The red fox is Mississippi's state land mammal, recognized officially in 1997.

Mississippi's state waterfowl is the wood duck, one of the most colorful ducks in North America.

The teddy bear became Mississippi's state toy in 2002 because of a famous hunting trip President Theodore Roosevelt took in the state.

The oyster shell is Mississippi’s state shell, and a living oyster can filter up to about 50 gallons of water each day!

Famous Places

Biloxi, founded in 1699, is one of the oldest settlements in the United States and sits along the Gulf of Mexico with beautiful beaches!

Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of a critical Civil War battle and has over 1,300 monuments and markers!

The Mississippi Children’s Museum in Jackson has about 40,000 square feet of space, with tens of thousands of square feet of interactive exhibits where kids can play and learn!

The Petrified Forest in Mississippi contains trees that turned to stone about 36 million years ago!

Natchez in Mississippi is famous for its historic homes, with more than 1,000 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places!

The Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson is topped with a large copper eagle covered in gold leaf.

The Mississippi River Museum in Tunica, Mississippi tells the story of the mighty river through interactive exhibits and real riverboat artifacts!

The Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Mississippi celebrates an artist who created thousands of paintings inspired by the state’s wildlife and natural beauty!

The USA International Ballet Competition is held every four years in Jackson, Mississippi, where dancers from all over the world come to compete!

The Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo in Mississippi is home to over 260 animals and once had the largest buffalo herd east of the Mississippi River!

The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Mississippi has a recreated 1920s town called Small Town Mississippi, where kids can see what life was like long ago!

The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Mississippi is the state’s first children’s museum and is housed in a historic school building from 1915!

The Windsor Ruins in Mississippi are the remains of what was once one of the largest antebellum mansions in the state, and today 23 full columns and 5 partial columns still stand.

The Mississippi Crafts Center in Ridgeland showcases handmade crafts from over 400 artisans from across the state.

Elvis Presley’s birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi, is a small two-room house built by his father for $180 in 1934!

The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson opened in 2017 and tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi through eight galleries.

People & Culture

Elvis Presley, known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was born in Mississippi in Tupelo on January 8, 1935!

Famous writer William Faulkner was from Mississippi, where he lived in Oxford, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949!

Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954 and became one of the most successful talk show hosts in the world.

Mississippi has produced more Grammy Award winners per capita than any other state, including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Faith Hill.

The Delta Blues music style was born in the Mississippi Delta region in the early 1900s and influenced rock, jazz, and country music.

The Mississippi State Fair in Mississippi has been held almost every year since the late 1850s and attracts around 500,000 to 700,000 visitors each year!

The World Catfish Festival in Mississippi celebrates the state’s catfish industry, which produces over 50–65% of all farm-raised catfish in the United States!

The Southern accent in Mississippi is known for its slow, smooth sound and stretched-out vowels, a style linguists call the Southern drawl!

Mississippi-style barbecue often features slow-cooked pork over wood coals!

The Mississippi Delta hot tamale has been a regional food specialty since the early 1900s, and it likely came to Mississippi through Mexican migrant workers who brought their recipes to the area!

The Natchez Balloon Festival in Mississippi features colorful hot air balloons floating high above the Mississippi River and surrounding bluffs!

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is known for its seafood, harvesting millions of pounds of shrimp, oysters, crabs, and fish each year.

The Natchez Pilgrimage in Mississippi is a festival where historic homes are opened to the public, and many hosts dress in period costumes to bring history to life!

The Mississippi Book Festival in Mississippi brings together hundreds of authors and around 6,000–8,000 visitors each year to celebrate reading!

The Choctaw Indian Fair in Mississippi features traditional dances, stickball games, and handmade crafts from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians!

Sweet potato farming is important in Mississippi, which is one of the top producers in the United States and grows about 10–20% of the nation’s sweet potatoes.

Cool State Facts

The teddy bear was inspired by an event in Mississippi in 1902, when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear during a hunting trip!

Barq’s Root Beer was created in Mississippi in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Barq!

In Mississippi, Dr. James Hardy performed the world’s first heart transplant in 1964 using a chimpanzee heart, but the first successful human-to-human heart transplant happened later in 1967.