Stay Mississippi Rentals, Vacation Rentals in Mississippi

Mississippi is an East South Central state bordered by Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, Mexico to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. The state has the largest percentage of African American population in the United States. Mississippi's landscape includes farmland and forested hills. Mississippi takes its name from the Mississippi River, which runs along the state's western border. The Indians called the river the "Father of Waters." The word "Mississippi" probably comes from "mici zibi," a Chippewa Indian word meaning "great river" or "gathering-in of all the waters." Mississippi is nicknamed the "Magnolia State" because of its beautiful magnolia trees. Jackson, the state's capital and largest city, is known as the "Crossroads of the South." Mississippi residents are sometimes called "Mudcats," after the catfish found in the state's streams.

Last major prehistoric cultural development in the Eastern Woodlands of North America, c. AD 800–1731. Mississippian groups were located throughout much of what is now the southeastern and mid-continental United States, especially in the major river valleys. The culture was based on intensive cultivation of corn, beans, squash, and other crops. The political and religious activities of the Mississippian took place in towns that functioned as local ceremonial centres, markets, and homes to those of elite status. Each town had a central ceremonial plaza with one or more pyramidal or oval earthen mounds surmounted by a temple, a pattern suggesting a connection to the ancient cultures of Mexico. The immense Cahokia Mounds near present-day Collinsville, Ill., United States, was the culture's largest urban centre. Craftwork was executed in copper, shell, stone, wood, and clay. The last Mississippians seem to have been the Natchez, whose decline and dispersal between 1698 and 1731 were caused and recorded by the French.

Mississippi has short winters and long, humid summers. Summer temperatures vary little from one part of the state to another. Biloxi, on the Gulf coast, averages 28°C in July, while Oxford, in the north-central part of the state, averages 27°C. During the winter, however, because of the temperate influence of the Gulf of Mexico, the southern coast is much warmer than the north; in January, Biloxi averages 11°C to Oxford's 5°C. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Mississippi was –28°C on 30 January 1966 in Corinth; the highest, 46°C, was set on 29 July 1930 at Holly Springs. Precipitation in Mississippi increases from north to south. The north-central region averages 53 inches of precipitation a year; the coastal region, 62 in inches. Annual precipitation at Jackson (1971–2000) was 56 inches. Some snow falls in northern and central sections. Mississippi lies in the path of hurricanes moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico during the late summer and fall. On 17–18 August 1969, Hurricane Camille ripped into Biloxi and Gulfport and caused more than 100 deaths throughout the state. Two tornado alleys cross Mississippi from the southwest to northeast, from Vicksburg to Oxford and Macomb to Tupelo.

Biloxi: When people think of the state of Mississippi, their first thought is not of the water so Biloxi is a surprise for many people. Biloxi is right on the Gulf Coast.

Jackson: Besides being the state capital of Mississippi, it is also the largest city in Mississippi with a population of about 175,000.

Gulfport: Welcome to beautiful Gulfport, the second largest city in Mississippi. The hidden gem of the Gulf Coast. Everyone always thinks about Florida, check out Mississippi Gulf Coast.

We have selected our favorite, sometimes less known places to see when visiting Mississippi.

Vicksburg National Military Park - Vicksburg: This site commemorates one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War, the Vicksburg Campaign. The battlefield includes over 1,000 historic markers and monuments, 20 miles of reconstructed earthworks, an antebellum home, the restored Union gunboat the USS Cairo, and the Vicksburg National Cemetery.

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians - Natchez: This site marks the political and religious capital of the Natchez Indians of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and features three platform burial mounds, a ceremonial plaza and artifacts excavated from the site.

Delta Blues Museum - Clarksdale: Located in an old Railroad Depot, this museum provides exhibits on the culture and people of blues music including such greats as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker.

Beauvoir - Biloxi: Beauvoir is the retirement estate of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and was constructed in 1848. The property also contains the Presidential Library of Jefferson Davis, a Confederate Museum, Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, and a theatre.

6 Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.