8 Best Museums In Mississippi

There’s no shortage of fascinating and eclectic museums to explore in the small towns of Mississippi, where each one celebrates the state’s unique identity, including its deep connection to American history, culture, music, and the arts. From the soulful sounds of “The King of the Blues” celebrated at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, to the struggle for civil rights honored in Jackson at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, to the birthplace of everyone’s favorite muppet, Kermit the Frog in Leland, these eight museums invite you to leapfrog into the stories that have shaped both the state and the country. Whether you’re a history buff, a music lover, or simply museum curious, Mississippi has a museum for you.

B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center (Indianola)

There’s no better year to visit the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center than 2025, as the museum celebrates 100 years of the King of Blues with a year-long series of events and tributes to the man who started life as Riley B. King. Various galleries examine King’s journey from his impoverished life on a farm in the Mississippi Delta during the 1930s to his days in Memphis in the 1950s to his final decade, in a 4,500 square-foot hall featuring two of his most prized possessions, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II and a custom-painted Chevy El Camino. There’s a state-of-the-art theatre where you can follow in King’s footsteps in a moving multimedia tribute, and a solemn memorial courtyard, B.B. King’s final resting place, and a life-size bronze statue of King holding his guitar, Lucille.

After the museum, stretch your legs during a five-minute walk to the unassuming Betty’s Place for Southern fare, like ribs, fried chicken, or catfish with your choice of two sides. Wash it all down with a Muddy Water (a mix of tea and lemonade).

Birthplace of Kermit the Frog (Leland)

Proclaiming itself to be the birthplace of Kermit the Frog, the small town of Leland honors Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, with a three-room tribute museum to one of his most lovable creatures, the amphibian superstar known as Kermit. Although the original Kermit, who was made from Henson’s mother’s old winter coat and a ping pong ball cut in half, now lives permanently in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, Leland is where Greenville-born Jim Henson spent much of his childhood. The museum is filled with whimsical memorabilia celebrating his imagination, including letters, photographs, videos, muppet artifacts, and a small gift shop full of Kermit and muppet merch.

After reliving happy memories of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang, follow the green Kermit-shaped frog prints to the former Broad Street Bridge overlooking Deer Creek. In 2011, on what would have been the creator’s 75th birthday, the town of Leland renamed it the Rainbow Connection Bridge after the song Kermit sings in “The Muppet Movie.” There are benches to sit on by the water and a historical marker, allowing you to spend a few minutes reflecting on Kermit’s contribution to your own childhood and pop culture in general.

U.S.S. Cairo Museum, Vicksburg National Military Park (Vicksburg)

The Vicksburg National Military Park is a large 1,800-acre park in the charming town of Vicksburg along the Mississippi River. While the military park spans the river and extends into Louisiana along the border between Mississippi and Louisiana, all of the museums are on the Mississippi side. There are numerous sites to see within the park, including over 1,400 historic monuments and markers, miles of walking trails, cannons, antebellum homes, landmark trenches, and much more. There are a few ways to visit the park, including taking a 16-mile auto tour and stopping at points of interest along the way. Another route is to put on your best trainers and discover the expansive park on foot.

Either way, one of the highlights of the park is the restored gunboat, the U.S.S. Cairo, which was sunk outside Vicksburg in December 1862, and is part of the concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery, where more than 17,000 soldiers are buried, although the identity of almost 13,000 of them is unknown. Inside the U.S.S. Cairo Museum, you’ll find a collection of artifacts, including munitions, weapons, and the personal property of the sailors who called the U.S.S. Cairo home.

After spending a few hours in the park, hop on the Mississippi Delta Hot Tamale Trail and take a 10-minute drive to world-famous Solly’s Hot Tamales, which has been serving up its tamales since 1939. Originally from Cuba, Solly doled out his signature dish until his death in 1992, and while he’s no longer behind that stove, the tamales still follow his original masa recipe.

Hattiesburg Pocket Museum (Hattiesburg)

For intrepid museum hunters only, part of the fun of discovering the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum is finding it somewhere in downtown Hattiesburg. When the pandemic shuttered the historic Saenger Theater in March 2020, the newly unemployed staff at the theater got creative with $800 and converted a boarded-up 36” x 48” window behind the museum into what is now known as the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum (aka Mississippi’s Tiniest Museum).

The museum opened in August 2020 and has stayed open 24/7 ever since. In addition to the special exhibits that rotate through the museum’s tiny window, there are outdoor art installations in the alley, as well as ever-changing mini dioramas hidden in electrical boxes and on ledges, creating an interactive component to the art in the alley as you try to find the “art in the alley.” Add to that a tiny pocket theater whose films change at the beginning of each month. Past exhibits have included miniature tributes to Woodstock, Pop Tarts, and Pop Art, as well as a retrospective of McDonald's Through the Ages.

After your tour of tiny art, grab a beer from its menu of over 60 different kinds of beer and share a plate of pub grub at the nearby Keg and Barrel Brewpub, housed in a late 1800s home with a wrap-around porch that makes it feel like home.

GRAMMY Museum Mississippi (Cleveland)

The GRAMMY Museum in Cleveland, Mississippi, explores the history of music, with a focus on Mississippi's profound influence on musical genres, like rock, hip-hop, jazz, country, R&B, gospel, and more. There’s a 130-seat soundstage that hosts live performances, storytellers, inspirational talks, immersive exhibits, and hands-on experiences that will delight any wanna-be rockstar. A few noteworthy exhibits on permanent display include “On the Red Carpet,” featuring original and often outrageous clothing worn at the Grammys, a singing and songwriting producing pod where you can write and record your own blues song, a display of iconic instruments, and more. Until August 31, 2025, an exhibit called “Taylor Swift: Through the Eras” highlights the 14-time GRAMMY Award-winner’s career.

Don’t let the music stop at the museum because nearby Dockery Farms is considered by many to be the “birthplace of the blues.” The historic timber and cotton plantation was founded in 1895 by Will Dockery and had a reputation for its fair treatment of black laborers, who lived there and played music together in the evenings in what was almost a self-contained village with its own store, school, church, and a railway stop.

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Two Mississippi Museums (Jackson)

As part of the interconnected Two Mississippi Museums, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, situated in downtown Jackson, chronicles the struggle for civil rights, featuring eight interactive exhibits that explore segregation, activism, and pivotal historical moments. In the first two galleries, you’ll witness a timeline of the history of African people in the state, slavery, and the start of the Jim Crow era, which brought in the Jim Crow Laws designed to deprive African Americans of rights and freedoms. The centerpiece of the museum, a dramatic space filled with sound and light, pays tribute to the lives lost during the Civil Rights Movement. If you have time, wander over to the attached Museum of Mississippi History, which covers the state’s history from prehistoric times to the present day.

Continue learning about key Mississippians like Medgar Evers, a prominent civil rights activist who was assassinated in his home in 1963, at the Medgar Evers Home Museum—a National Historic Landmark on the Mississippi Freedom Trail. Stop in at the Big Apple Inn, one of Jackson’s oldest eateries, where Evers once rented an office on the second floor. The diner is renowned for its red smoked sausage and pig ear sliders called “smokes and ears.”

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art (Biloxi)

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi is a stunning architectural gem dedicated to eccentric potter George E. Ohr, known as the “Mad Potter of Biloxi,” who lived from 1857 to 1918. Considered to be well ahead of his time, Ohr has been called the first potter in the United States and one of the best. He originally debuted his practical pieces of pottery, 600 mugs, jugs, and flower pots, at the 1885 World’s Fair in New Orleans and created quite a sensation. He then opened a pink shop in his hometown of Biloxi called “Biloxi Art and Novelty Pottery,” which quickly became a tourist attraction on the Mississippi Gulf Coast thanks to Ohr’s brash personality, and long moustache he hooked over his ears.

The campus that houses the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum is itself a work of art, designed by celebrated architect Frank Gehry. The four-acre site includes a set of pavilions, called pods, that are hidden in a grove of Live Oaks. After touring the campus, enjoy the coastal scenery along Beach Boulevard on a ten-minute walk until you the Lost Key Bar, famous for its sunset views and specialty cocktails like Davy Jones’ Locker, Mango Mosas, or their signature Margaritas.

Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum (Tupelo)

If you’re a true Elvis fan, you’ll know that Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in a small two-room shack in Tupelo, 90 minutes from Graceland in Memphis. The Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum is a tribute to the King of Rock’ n Roll, which includes his childhood home, museum, chapel, gift shop, and lots of Elvis memorabilia you won’t find in Graceland. There’s a map of the grounds available, which will take you on a walking trail past Elvis tributes, including a bronze statue called “Elvis at 13” and another statue called “Becoming” depicting young Elvis sitting in front of superstar Elvis.

After spending a few hours at the museum, download a map of the Elvis Tupelo Driving Tour and visit all the places that Elvis liked to go. The map takes you to 14 significant landmarks, including the Mud Creek Swimming Hole, where Elvis and his pals snuck off to swim unsupervised; Johnnie’s Drive-In, which even has an Elvis booth where the King once sat to mow down a cheeseburger and an RC cola; and the Tupelo Hardware Store, where his mother bought his first guitar.

Summary

From Kermit the Frog to the King of the Blues to the King of Rock' n Roll and everyone in between, Mississippi’s dynamic mix of fascinating museums has something for you to enjoy. Whether you're learning about political activism at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, marveling at the inspired pieces of twisted pottery at the Ohr‑O’Keefe Museum of Art in an otherworldly pod near the beach in Biloxi, or admiring tiny art in Mississippi’s tiniest museum in Hattiesburg, the Magnolia State celebrates its history, art, and culture that will captivate and inspire visitors of all ages.