¬  “Mississippi” is Choctaw for “Father of Waters,” referring to the mighty river for which the state is named.

¬  The state averages one per boat for every ten people.

¬  The University of Mississippi Blues Archive is the only research facility in the country dedicated to the study of the blues.

¬  Mississippi boasts more churches per capita than any other state.

¬  The world’s first human heart and lung transplants were performed in 1964 in Jackson at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

¬  The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) was founded in Crystal Springs in 1909.

¬  Eighty percent of the world’s farm-raised catfish comes from Mississippi; 120 catfish farms cover more than 40,000 acres, approximately 6,000 catfish per acre.

¬  The oldest book in the United States, an ancient Biblical manuscript, is housed at the University of Mississippi.

¬  In 1946, Elvis Presley bought his first guitar at Tupelo Hardware in Tupelo, MS.

Facts taken from INSIDERS’ GUIDE
Off the Beaten Path A Guide to Unique Places
Author Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick