Location: Vicksburg
Top Things to do in Vicksburg
Top Restaurants in Vicksburg
Things to do in Vicksburg, Mississippi (MS): The Best Points of Interest & Landmarks
Sitting high atop a bluff overlooking the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers, the city of Vicksburg was the setting of a bloody 47 day siege during the Civil War. The site of this epic battle is now Vicksburg National Military Park, preserving original fortifications and the U.S.S. Cairo, an ironclad gunboat that once prowled the waters of the Mississippi River. Vicksburg is also the place where Coca-Cola was first bottled, a fact that is happily immortalized at the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum.
Restaurants in Vicksburg
1. Anchuca Mansion
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 116 reviews
Tour Anchuca Mansion, Vicksburg's first Columned Mansion and the town's first antebellum homes to open to the public for daily tours in 1955. This Greek revival landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, opens it doors to visitor from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. Walk in the footsteps of many famous Americans, including President Jefferson Davis, to see the opulent interiors with fine antiques and art representing the past three centuries. Tours are $10.00 per person. Most all major credit cards are excepted. Thank you for helping preserve Anchuca.
Reviewed By whois23
The tour starts out with a short film narrated by a former resident of the house, and then you are allowed to go on a self-guided tour at your own pace. We really enjoyed it, and learned a lot about Anchuca.
2. Vicksburg Riverfront Murals
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 522 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The Vicksburg Riverfront Murals didn't exist the last time my wife and I visited Vicksburg, Mississippi. So add another interesting tourist attraction to the list of sites to see on your travel itinerary. It is a series of 32 murals painted on Mississippi River flood walls. Unveiled in 2002, they are intended to depict the city's historical significance as well as its envisioned future role in the region's commerce and culture. They show a timeline of Vicksburg history, including downtown Vicksburg in the days following the 1953 tornado, the steamboat Sprague during the roaring 1880s, ferry boats transporting train cars across the river and The Famous Teddy Bear Hunt. Artist Robert Dafford, who completed similar murals in Cincinnati, Ohio, Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmith, Ohio, and Maryville, Ohio, was commissioned to complete the first series of 12-feet by 20-feet panels along the flood wall facing Levee Street. In 2012, a 55-foot mural was commissioned to be painted on the Grove Street flood wall, across the street from the Levee Street murals. It is designed to be triangular in shape due to Grove Street's incline. It is a feature along the route of the annual 10K Run Thru History event and depicts a group of runners passing by areas of historical significance in Vicksburg.
3. McRaven House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 140 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
My wife and I are never persuaded to visit so-called haunted houses on our travels across the country. But we made a point of visiting the McRaven House in Vicksburg, Mississippi, not because it has a reputation as "the most haunted house in Mississippi," but because it has been referred to as being a "time capsule of the south," one of the oldest structures this side of Louisiana's Great River Road. Located at 1445 Harrison Street, McRaven was built in 1797 in a town called Walnut Hills, later to become Vicksburg. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Originally serving as a way station for pioneers en route to Nashville, Tennessee, along the Natchez Trace Parkway to the Mississippi River, it began as a kitchen with one room above it. In 1836, the middle dining room and the bedroom above it were added in the Empire architectural style. In 1849, the rest of the house was added in Greek Revival style. During the Civil War, McRaven served as a Confederate field hospital and camp site. It was battered by cannon shots from Union and Confederate forces. But it still stands. In 1961, after extensive restoration, McRaven was opened to the public for tours. Is the house haunted? More than a few people have died in the house, including Confederate soldiers and former owner John Bobb. The center of ghost activity seems to be the middle bedroom upstairs, the room where Mary Elizabeth Howard (age 15) died during childbirth. Her ghostly apparition reportedly has appeared on the house's flying wing staircase and in the dining room. Also, the light in the bedside lamp in her room has been reported to turn on and off, seemingly at will. Well, McRaven survived the Civil War. It can survive ghost stories, too.
4. Vicksburg Bridge
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 20 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
There are two bridges that cross the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Delta, Louisiana. Don't get confused. One is for vehicular traffic, the other is for railroads. Before crossing on I-20, stop at the Warren County Visitor Center to get a spectacular, sweeping view of the two bridges and the river. It's worth the stop. The original bridge, now called the Old Vicksburg Bridge, is a cantilever bridge carrying one rail line across the river. It was built in 1928-30 and carried vehicular traffic until 1998. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It was replaced by the newer Vicksburg Bridge in 1973 and remains the northernmost crossing of the Mississippi River in Louisiana open to motor vehicles. It is a cantilever, four-lane bridge that is 12,974 feet long and 60 feet wide. It handles over 25,000 vehicles daily. From 2019 to 2021, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development spent $27.5 million to provide a number of significant repairs, including an overlay on the bridge deck, upgraded electrical system and new roadway lighting. Visitors are encouraged to cross the bridge to the west side to observe the site of an interesting chapter of Civil War history, Grant's canal. Prior to the 47-day siege of Vicksburg in 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant attempted to cut a canal across a loop in the Mississippi River, causing the river to change course and bypass Vicksburg. Despite the efforts of hundreds of workers, the river refused to budge, forcing Grant to besiege the city. The west end of the Vicksburg Bridge passes the last remaining section of the canal.
5. Balfour House
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
During the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, the Balfour House was the home of Emma Balfour, who became a celebrated diarist for her recollections of the city's 47-day struggle against Union General U.S. Grant's forces. Built in the mid-1830s, the red brick, two-story structure with elements of Greek Revival and Federalist architectural styles survived the Union shelling and Emma famously refused to abandon her home for the safety of caves in the hillsides and turned here home into a shelter for wounded Confederate soldiers. After the surrender, Balfour House served as headquarters for Union General James McPherson. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
