themselves to turning the building into something special.
In the 19th century, there were calls to move the capital to Vicksburg or Clinton. The building opened in 1839, and that probably cemented Jackson as the state capital, Williams said.
“Back then, this would have been amazing compared to the other shacks and cabins in Jackson,” he said. “They weren’t going to abandon this building.”
It was originally brick and covered in stucco that was scored to resemble stone. The stucco didn’t make it through a renovation in the 1960s, but it returned during the Katrina-inspired changes. The stucco isn’t on the back of the building, which used to face a Pearl River swamp.
“When it was originally built, no one would have approached it from the back, so they didn’t put stucco on that part,” Williams said. “We didn’t either.”
A set of displays detail the many renovations and changes over the years. One case is filled with items that were discarded in the most recent update.
“There’s a little bit of everything in there, from an 1840s brick to a 1960s kitchen sink,” Williams said.
The Old Capitol Museum regularly hosts visitors from Mississippi and other states, as well as people from Europe and Asia who come to see the state’s many blues sites and maybe check out the Elvis Presley Birthplace.
“They’ll kind of hit us in the middle,” Williams said.
School children once roamed the halls in large numbers, but that’s changed. School budget cuts in recent years have reduced field trips, and Williams called that a shame.
The doors are open every day but Monday for anyone interested in visiting the National Historic Landmark, which also happens to be Mississippi’s own Greek Revival time machine.
“This is Mississippi history. This is our culture,” Williams said. “This is an important place. We want people to understand that.”