Views from the Big Country: Vicksburg, Mississippi ~ Part II Vicksburg Today

Thursday, October 23 ~ Friday, November 7, 2014

Vicksburg is a small beautiful city. The Mississippi River, antebellum homes, beautiful flowers and, of course, the people. The people here are warm and friendly and always offer a smile.

After exploring the Civil War side of Vicksburg, we turned our attention to some of the museums the city has to offer.

First stop, my cola loving friends, was the Museum of Coca-Cola History and Memorabilia. This is a small museum, housed in the original Biedenham Candy Company building, located in the downtown area. The building has been restored to the way it was in the 1890's...

In the summer of 1894, a young candy merchant named Joseph A. Biedenham of Vicksburg, Mississippi, had an idea that was to shape the American, and later the international, soft drink industry. His idea? He took a popular fountain beverage known as Coca-Cola, put it in bottles and shipped it to the rural areas outside the Vicksburg City limits.

This was the first time Coca-Cola had been sold in bottles. Mr. Biedenham created a totally new concept of marketing the beverage and the rest, as they say, is history...

door leading into the museum

memorabilia

bottle washer

carbonator

filler table

luggage!

oh, if only this soda fountain had some ice
cream!

bottling plant. no longer in use

Our next stop was the Lower Mississippi River Museum (LMRM). The museum contains both static and interactive displays providing visitors with a unique look at life surrounding the Mississippi River. Visitors can explore the river's past as well as examine the science behind water movement. This museum is the first of its kind in the United States as it is the first and only museum to maintain and house a fully restored, dry docked riverboat.

model showing rivers that flow into the Mississippi

We learned about river transportation...

Dugout canoes were the most convenient form of river transportation. Normally made of pine or cypress, canoes varied from a two-person raft up to a canoe capable of holding 50 people.

River rafts were first used by settlers. These flat boats were used as one-way craft only. Loaded upstream, they were floated downriver where their cargo was unloaded and each vessel was dismantled and sold for lumber.

Flats (flatboats) were rectangular, flat-bottomed boats without keels. They were easy to build, but difficult to steer. They were an awkward, one-way craft. They were also dismantled when they reached their downriver destination.

model of a flat-boat

Side-wheel steamers...these ships carried products and passengers quicker and cheaper than other modes of river transportation.

side-wheel steamer

Cotton steamers were common on the Mississippi River in the 1850's. Because of river meandering, swift currents and crossings, uncharted shoals and sandbars as well as sandbars made river travel dangerous. By the mid-1800's, the average life of a steamboat on the river was only 18 months.

cotton steamer model

We also learned about levees, floodways and channel improvements that the Corps. is doing. Interesting.

Other interesting facts include:

We made our way outside to the riverboat which is aptly named the Mississippi IV. The motor vessel Mississippi IV is the fourth U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' vessel to carry that name. It is a diesel-powered vessel with an all-steel superstructure. The four levels of the structure are the main deckhouse, second deckhouse, Texas deckhouse and the pilot house. It served as a towboat and vessel inspection until decommissioned in 1993. It was moved to its present location (on land) in September 2007. Due to maintenance, we were limited to touring the second deckhouse...

womens cabin. also contained a bathroom and small closet

linen closet

kitchen

dining hall

Last, but not least, we visited the Old Courthouse Museum. The courthouse sits on one of the highest hills in the city of Vicksburg; the clock tower rises high above all other buildings...

The courthouse was built entirely by slave labor. During the siege, the courthouse was damaged by Federal artillery fire from both land-based batteries and the gunboats and mortar scows of the Union fleet. Many Union artillerists aimed at the clock tower for target practice. Knowing that the building was the pride and joy of the people of Vicksburg and Warren County, Confederate Lt. Gen. Pemberton housed Union prisoners in the upstairs courtroom and notified Major Gen. Grant and Admiral Porter that if they persisted on firing on the building, they would kill they own men.

It was here that Jefferson Davis launched his political career. It was here, from the clock tower, Union troops raised the Stars and Stripes on July 4 1863, signifying an end to the 47-day siege. It was also here that Jefferson Davis (his brother lived in Vicksburg) made his first public appearance following his imprisonment after the Civil War.

The building is simply beautiful. The first floor houses the majority of the museum; it is divided into "rooms" such as the "confederate" room, the "pioneer" room, the "Vicksburg" room and the "early American" room. The second floor is home to the "costume" room and the courtroom. Some of the highlights include...