History, art, and culture grow like roots in the soil of Vicksburg, coming together to blossom into a truly authentic Southern experience. You can feel it in the beautiful tour homes set like gemstones in the bluff’s gentle slope toward the river. You can see it firsthand in the museums that place objects of wonder at your fingertips. And you’re invited to experience it all, up-close and personal, using your very own Attractions Passport.
The Attractions Passport spotlights 9 attractions and 11 tour homes in Vicksburg, providing a self-guided itinerary for visitors of all ages. Each page in the passport contains information about the featured location and a space for your very own stamp.
We’ve got a sneak preview of some of the great spots you’ll see along the way—mix and match your own adventure and collect them all over a long weekend!
Vicksburg Visitor Information Center
Begin your tour at the Vicksburg VIC, located on Old Highway 27, just across from the Vicksburg National Military Park. It’s one of the first places you’ll pass on the way into town. You’ll pick up your passport here, along with an assortment of gifts, brochures, and know-how! Our friendly guides can answer any questions you have about accommodations and attractions, delicious eats, and best-kept local secrets.
While you’re exploring the city’s hotspots, just ask a docent or tour guide to stamp your passport when you arrive. And after a weekend of self-guided jet setting, bring your passport back to the VIC. If you’ve gotten at least 5 stamps, you’ve earned yourself a free Vicksburg t-shirt!
Attractions
Eight museums and the Vicksburg National Military Park make up the attractions portion of the passport, each offering a unique glimpse into an aspect of Vicksburg’s history.
Veterans, military buffs, and history enthusiasts will delight in the vast array of memorabilia collected throughout the Old Court House Museum, Vicksburg Civil War Museum, and Vicksburg National Military Park. And don’t forget to take advantage of the curators—at each location, there’s someone to strike up a conversation with, giving any Vicksburg museum experience a personalized, one-on-one touch you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.
You can also explore exhibits centered on arteries of transportation in Vicksburg, and how humans have carved out their lives by the river through the ages. Feel the ebb and flow of the river systems at the Jesse Brent Lover Mississippi River Museum, where you can walk aboard the Motor Vessel Mississippi IV, once a towboat for the Army Corps of Engineers. Experience the transportation and trains of a bygone era at The Old Depot Museum or take to the skies at the Southern Heritage Air Museum.
Of course, it’s not all planes, trains, and automobiles—arts and culture abound here, too. The Catfish Row Museum is a hub for celebrating Vicksburg’s diversity in food, faith, music, fashion, art, and more and is poised to expand into an even bigger community center soon. Learn about Vicksburg’s rich African American history at the Jacqueline House Museum through photographs, books, and over 20,000 artifacts. And for something a little fun and funky, stop into the Biedenharn Coca-Cola museum, the candy store where Coca-Cola was first bottled.
Tour Homes
Each of the 11 homes featured in the passport tells its own unique story in the language of architecture, antiques, and amiability. Many of these historical abodes double as B&Bs today, including Anchuca, whose name comes from a Choctaw Indian word for “happy home,” and the McNutt House, among the oldest antebellum homes in Vicksburg. Sleep in style in one of these historical homes, fitted with modern comforts and, as always, Southern hospitality—and in the morning, you can collect another stamp for your passport!
You can feel the presence of decades in these homes as you travel through time, learning about Vicksburg’s early prominent families and founders. Bursting with opulent collections of fine paintings, family letters, antique period furnishings, and various other vintage curiosities, these homes tell a story in objects and architectural flights of fancy. Walk over authentic heart pine floors, among grand gardens, and underneath ornate chandeliers and medallions as you’re regaled with tales of the heroism, resilience, entrepreneurship, and escapades of citizens of the past.
Welcome to Vicksburg
Pack your bags and bring your friends—you’ve got a passport to adventure in Vicksburg. Learn more about our top getaway destinations and share your travels with the hashtag #VisitVicksburg!