JXN Has That? Unexpected Finds In The Capital City
It might be easy to overlook the uniqueness of Jackson, Mississippi at first glance.
But a recent conversation about what we don’t have revealed quite a lengthy list of what we do have. To be fair, some of these can be found in other cities. But, some are a JXN one-of-a-kind. Here are ten things you may not realize – or believe – that JXN offers.
A Speakeasy
There’s no sign, no grand fanfare to show for it. But, behind the door, just past the kitchen, The Apothecary at Brent’s Drugs is a thousand square-foot “speakeasy” lounge with cleverly curated craft cocktails and a laid-back vibe.
The Apothecary centers around the idea of the pre-Prohibition craft cocktail movement with an added twist: the place is also a nod to the days of old when soda fountains – like the one still in existence upfront at Brent’s – were the remedy for a hard pill to swallow.
Syrups and tonic waters are made in-house, and the menu is a rotating collection of bartenders’ favorites.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-wright2-mdah-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=b5884f258214f05159734c0f335d4688 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-wright2-mdah-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=5db32dd2798d6c5a59c7d2f8e0eadfc9 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-wright2-mdah-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=fe8188e89898a127724e881a0bf5501f 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-wright2-mdah-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=589016c42d77ac05cb6f92ae658ae405 1024w)
A Frank Lloyd Wright House
Known for his unique style of “organic” architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright designed more than 1,000 structures in his lifetime. One of those is the J. Willis Hughes house, also known as “Fountainhead” on Glen Way Drive in the Fondren neighborhood, built in the early 1950s. On the National Register of Historic Places since 1980, it was designed in Wright’s Usonian style, said to be a “T’ or “Y” design.
The home is the private residence of JXN architect Robert Parker Adams (whose offices are in the former Greyhound Bus Station in downtown) and has never been open to the public.
Fun fact: the house has no 90-degree angles inside. See the amazingly unique floor plan here.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-coliseum-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=e96bd682880426e7ddddd356b844aaba 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-coliseum-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=11f344ba0dd61e8ba1e60293fdd302e2 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-coliseum-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=ed3850e1e9243d46907a973015dc1266 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-coliseum-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=daad788348092b42e1643eb645052d29 1024w)
A Dormant Volcano
This sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but, apparently, it’s true and the reason foundations are so shifty here: seventy-five million years ago, Jackson (as we know it today) sat on a volcanic island. About 2,900 feet below East Pascagoula Street at I-55, it’s said that an extinct volcano had its beginnings. Fascinating! Today the Mississippi Coliseum sits on this very spot.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-escaperoom-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=817c080287aee03a99bb3f74f5968f12 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-escaperoom-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=a342f333d36f73f3318e38ae1a6cd214 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-escaperoom-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=596b6d74446646737ac271231517c4fa 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-escaperoom-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=4772bdad23daa85f0903a5dcbe72576f 1024w)
An Escape Room
Problem-solving meets small-group fun, escape rooms are the rage all over the country and JXN has one downtown, 601 Escape Rooms! Themed rooms provide various clues and each game has a time limit. Bragging rights are up for grabs – and a plan to visit again soon: room themes change, so there’s always something new.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/immc-exhibit-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=5af65776a84c0963fdc594275f01f509 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/immc-exhibit-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=9687a8e0fc51f3202bc63e6e55ac6fcb 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/immc-exhibit-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=91b3f25a85b72dd7dfcb034e9908b37c 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/immc-exhibit-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=e0bb18145bc7f457996d74fc4257950a 1024w)
A Museum of Muslim Cultures
The first of its kind in the U.S., the award-winning International Museum of Muslim Cultures – located at the Arts Center of Mississippi – is dedicated to educating the public about Islamic history and culture.
The IMMC contains two permanent exhibitions: “The Legacy of Timbuktu” features ancient Timbuktu manuscripts uncovering Africa’s literate culture and celebrating a glorious age of learning and empire-building and “Islamic Moorish Spain: Its Legacy to Europe and the West” features artifacts and information on Muslim rule in Spain, its contributions to philosophy, science, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, agriculture, commerce, architecture and the arts. A temporary exhibit, “Muslims with Christians & Jews: Covenants & Coexistence,” is located on Capitol Street at Farish Street.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-float-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=0938b5b2b6f0a157925ce96af798a963 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-float-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=4bafcf52061565264baf838e82ea5ff1 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-float-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=d5d1d2a7d93e318bae37865a188c1958 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-float-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=ffc43b4a1c4bce012c776cd7e5eb4140 1024w)
Flotation Therapy
Float your cares away at Jax-Zen Healing Arts Center in Jackson’s Midtown neighborhood, Mississippi’s first wellness center dedicated to floatation therapy. Experience total mind and body relaxation in an anti-gravity environment where benefits include relief of stress, pain, insomnia, depression, addiction, PTSD. Floating is also said to enhance creativity, productivity and meditation.
It may seem intimidating, but you have to try it to understand it. It’s amazing.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-usaibc-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=90ff68da03cbd386524832f8e61986a6 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-usaibc-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=09153ac92c35984ac670c96631238107 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-usaibc-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=9a985118786c83d7b7cfef47226d8a97 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-usaibc-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=ca18e9eada522677036f6e68d948ec3e 1024w)
A Quadrennial Ballet Competition
USA IBC is the quadrennial, two-week “Olympic-style” competition for top young dancers and a major stepping stone toward a professional career – and Jackson is one of four places worldwide that hosts it.
Competitors from all over the world vie for gold, silver and bronze medals, cash prizes and company contracts. The audience is filled with company directors interested in hiring dancers, and for this reason, many dancers leave with jobs–possibly the grandest prize of all.
Founded in 1978 by Thalia Mara (yes, the namesake of Thalia Mara Hall) the competition only happens in Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland; and Moscow, Russia (it returns here in 2023).
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-malaco-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=f8e48ebf031ab1be816ef72dfb5a1c4a 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-malaco-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=a377c5427d8805865c3e7af5a62e6aea 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-malaco-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=d350c2873bffd1118e31c7ecb0f7a9d2 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-malaco-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=b8523c7f0af19d9473b8eb5fd19f7349 1024w)
The Longest-Running Record Label in America
Since 1968, Malaco Music Group – located on Northside Drive, known as the “last soul company," - was the first state-of-the-art recording facility in Mississippi. From Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue” to Z.Z. Hill’s “Down Home Blues,” 60+ Grammy nominations have come out of Malaco.
Paul Simon has recorded here. So have The Pointer Sisters and Phil Ramone. Malaco also owns the rights to the Muscle Shoals Studios catalog which includes Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” among many other soul classics.
![](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-msrivermodel-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=3e9e1839e58d0413464cf7ee80b3b765 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-msrivermodel-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=b538c9ad67e14a95ab7c7d7f42877f0d 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-msrivermodel-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=21be4abcccca1ad5cecc605d02379af4 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/jhw-msrivermodel-2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=5e2bdb2ce22839b183d73d78305f993c 1024w)
A Full-Scale, Miniature Model of the Mississippi River
A fantastic piece of JXN history, yet so few know of its existence, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi River Basin Model at Buddy Butts Park (McRaven Road) features eight miles of miniature streams. It’s the largest small-scale model ever built and represents 15,000 miles of rivers and 41% of the United States to study the effects of river flooding on the country. Fascinating!
Explore more about the model with the Friends of the Mississippi River Basin Model.
![A young girl roller-skates on a paved trail as families walk behind her pushing strollers.](https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/sporty-museumtrail.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=0c0fae1ebfe46c267c3ed39ad9db5339 320w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/sporty-museumtrail.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=e3c82f90c7dd4db33ac918d8695aba60 540w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/sporty-museumtrail.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=b5a143136ccc72b79afc536e7f9f5305 768w, https://visit-jackson.imgix.net/images/sporty-museumtrail.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=5e75ea6362c62068eda551ae8a4154fb 1024w)
A Burgeoning Pedestrian Trail System
Whether on foot or two wheels, JXN is adding miles and miles to our pedestrian pathways, both paved and natural ones. From the new Museum Trail to the Metro Jackson Parkway (connecting downtown to Jackson State University), LeFleur’s Bluff State Park hiking trail, State Street multi-use path and the recently paved West JXN “Little J trail,” it’s time you started exploring. See more (and additional outdoor activities) on this map created by JXN outdoor enthusiast Andy Hilton.