Jackson

Jackson sits near the center of Mississippi on the Pearl River, on a site chosen in 1821 expressly to be a centrally located capital for the young state. Named for Andrew Jackson, it was laid out on a checkerboard plan alternating blocks of buildings and green space. The central location, rather than any river-port advantage, was the point — a capital reachable from across the state.

The surrounding country is the low, rolling pine-and-prairie land of central Mississippi, draining to the Pearl River, which winds south toward the Gulf. Jackson is the largest city in a mostly rural state and its government and medical center, set well inland from both the Mississippi River and the Gulf coast.