8 Prettiest Main Streetscapes In Mississippi
Iron balconies front Main Street in Natchez, hand-carved carousel animals turn beneath a century-old pavilion roof in Meridian, and pastel cottages holding art galleries stand along the streets of Bay St. Louis. Add the central courthouse square in Oxford, the guitar sculptures set along the sidewalks of Tupelo, and the Greek Revival rowhouses of Starkville's Cotton District, and it's easy to see why these 8 prettiest Main Streetscapes in Mississippi reward a visit block by block, across the coast and the hill country.
Bay St. Louis
Old Town Bay St. Louis rewards anyone willing to look past the beach for a moment. Century-old buildings along Main Street, Second Street, and Beach Boulevard hold antique shops and art galleries, their porches painted in an array of pastels. A few streets over stands the 100 Men Hall, built in 1922, where Etta James, Irma Thomas, and Professor Longhair once performed. Musicians still play there today, with open mic nights and a regular calendar of blues and jazz. The L&N Train Depot, a restored railroad building downtown, houses the Bay St. Louis Mardi Gras Museum. A few blocks over, Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church sits above the Mississippi Sound at the edge of downtown. On the second Saturday of each month, the sculpture garden at the Mamie Hillery Arts Center draws live music and artists for the Art Without Walls Art Market, a day built around music and shopping.
Ocean Springs
Ocean Springs centers its downtown on Government Street and Washington Avenue, where oak branches arch over the sidewalks. The Walter Anderson Museum of Art holds the paintings, drawings, and murals of the artist who spent decades studying the plants, animals, and coastline around Ocean Springs. The town is also home to Shearwater Pottery, a working studio where the Anderson family has shaped clay by hand since 1928. A few blocks toward the water, Fort Maurepas Park runs along Front Beach Drive, and the Chester M. McPhearson Jr. Fishing Pier reaches out over the Mississippi Sound, a real waterfront within easy reach of the galleries. Sno-cone stands sit beside boutiques full of handmade goods, and the oaks keep the whole downtown shaded enough for a comfortable afternoon walk, even in July.
Natchez
About three and a half hours inland, Natchez trades sea breeze for river bluffs. Bluff Park runs along Broadway above the Mississippi River, where a bandstand sits on a grassy promenade with views that stretch for miles. Longwood, the largest octagonal house in the country, wears an onion-shaped dome that looks more like a Byzantine palace than a Southern mansion. Its unfinished interior drives home the fact that construction stopped mid-story at the outbreak of the Civil War. Antique shops and specialty stores fill the storefronts along Main Street, and down below the bluff, the Under-the-Hill Historic District, once the city's old river port, now holds saloons, shops, and restaurants at the water's edge.
Vicksburg
More than 30 painted panels run along the floodwall on Levee Street, each one showing a scene from Vicksburg's past. The open-air gallery sits close enough to the water that the Mississippi River appears in the background of nearly every photo. Next to the murals, Catfish Row Children's Art Park has a play structure built from salvaged pieces of the steamboat Sprague, once the largest steam-powered sternwheel towboat ever built. On Washington Street, the 30-by-60-foot Welcome to Vicksburg mural covers the side of a building across from the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum, which stands on the spot where Coca-Cola was first bottled anywhere in the world, in 1894. Restored storefronts along the same street hold antique stores, boutiques, and art galleries, and the Old Depot Museum tells the story of the city's railroad history.
Oxford
A few hours north, up into Mississippi's hill country, Oxford's courthouse square has been the center of downtown since the Lafayette County Courthouse was finished in 1872. Balconies and cast-iron storefronts stand on all four sides of the Square. Square Books is spread across three separate buildings, steps from each other, one with a café and a balcony that looks straight out over the courthouse lawn. Neilson's Department Store, open since 1839 and billed as the South's oldest department store, still sits on the Square. At Southside Gallery, visitors can take in rotating shows from regional and international artists.
Tupelo
About 55 miles east, Tupelo's most noticeable attraction is a two-room house. Elvis Presley's Birthplace sits on a 15-acre campus with a museum, memorial gardens, a commemorative statue, and the Assembly of God church that the star attended as a child. Downtown, Reed's Department Store, run by the same family that operated the Tupelo Garment Factory where Gladys Presley worked as a seamstress, is still open. The Tupelo Community Theatre, a historic downtown movie house, still has its lit marquee above the sidewalk. Guitar sculptures stand along the sidewalks between the shops, coffeehouses, and boutiques that fill Main Street's storefronts.
Starkville
Starkville's Cotton District, just steps from the Mississippi State University campus, packs Greek Revival columns, Victorian gingerbread trim, and narrow brick streets into a few walkable blocks. It ranks among the most photographed parts of the town. Main Street runs a few blocks over, where the Starkville Café has served meals since 1945, and newer spots like Restaurant Tyler and Arepas Coffee & Bar keep the sidewalks busy all day. On warm-weather Saturdays, vendors set up at the Starkville Community Market in a downtown lot, with local produce, handmade goods, and live music. Just off Main Street, the Starkville Community Theatre runs a year-round schedule of musicals and comedies.
Meridian
The Threefoot, completed in 1929, is still the tallest building in Meridian, 16 stories of Art Deco design above downtown. After years of renovation, it now operates as the Threefoot Hotel, with a rooftop lounge that overlooks the whole city. A few blocks away, the Grand Opera House, now the Mississippi State University Riley Center, still hosts touring shows. Meridian's old Carnegie library holds the Meridian Museum of Art. Just outside downtown, the Dentzel Carousel turns inside a dedicated pavilion at Highland Park, its hand-carved horses, tigers, and giraffes restored to their original colors.
Eight Streetscapes, Eight Ways To Walk Mississippi
Each of these eight main streetscapes stands apart. Tupelo builds its downtown around one of America's biggest stars, Vicksburg carries its history along a painted floodwall, and Meridian keeps a century-old carousel turning at Highland Park. Between the Gulf Coast galleries and the hill-country squares, Mississippi's best-looking Main Streets each reward an afternoon on foot.
