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

The first Coca-Cola was bottled in Mississippi, in Vicksburg in 1894, by a local shop owner who wanted to make the drink easier to carry and sell!

Mississippi produces more farm-raised catfish than any other state, with about 33,000 acres of catfish ponds!

Friendship Cemetery in Mississippi is one of the places linked to the early tradition of Decoration Day after the Civil War, which later helped inspire Memorial Day

Pine Sol cleaner was invented in Mississippi in 1929 and was originally made from real pine oil from Mississippi pine trees.

Mississippi is the birthplace of blues music, which grew from the songs and chants of African American workers in the cotton fields and Delta region in the early 1900s

The first state-supported public college for women in the United States was opened in Mississippi, in Columbus, in 1884!

People in Mississippi are known for their warm hospitality, which is why the state is often called “The Hospitality State.”

A Mississippi-born football star named Walter Payton held the NFL rushing record with 16,726 yards for about 18 years, and he was famously nicknamed “Sweetness”!

The Mississippi State University cheese-making plant has been making cheese since 1938 and produces over 300,000 pounds of cheese each year!

Mississippi has produced many NFL players per capita, and stars like Jerry Rice and Brett Favre come from the state.

The Mississippi River is so long that a drop of water can take about 90 days to travel its entire 2,300+ mile length from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico!

ndianola in Mississippi is known as the hometown of B.B. King, the “King of the Blues,” and is an important center of blues music in the Delta region!

Mississippi has had McDonald’s restaurants since the early 1960s, and hamburgers once cost about 15 cents.

Every year in Mississippi, the town of Vardaman crowns a Sweet Potato Queen during its Sweet Potato Festival!

Mississippi produces more than half of the country’s farm-raised catfish, and many families in the state have their own delicious recipes for fried catfish!

The Mississippi Legislature officially named milk as Mississippi’s state beverage in 1984!

The first rural electric cooperative in the United States was founded in Mississippi, in Alcorn County, in 1934!

The Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi is a 444-mile scenic road that follows a historic travel route used for over 10,000 years!

Mississippi was the first state to create a planned system of junior colleges, starting in the early 1920s!

Mississippi is home to the largest Bible-binding and rebinding operation in the United States in Greenwood.

The “Singing River” in Mississippi is famous for a legend that a Pascagoula tribe sang together as they walked into the river rather than face defeat, and people say you can still hear their song today!

Mississippi is shaped somewhat like a rectangle, and its eastern border with Alabama is mostly a straight surveyed line, with only small sections influenced by rivers!

The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) has operated the only federally approved marijuana research farm in the United States, growing cannabis for government-approved studies!

Mississippi’s Geological Survey has found shark teeth in many parts of the state, showing that millions of years ago, much of Mississippi was underwater!

The Pascagoula River in Mississippi is one of the last unregulated major river systems in the lower 48 states, flowing freely for about 80 miles without dams!

Mississippi has one of the highest numbers of churches per capita in the United States.

Mississippi has more than 70 school districts and educates around 450,000–490,000 students each year.