1719Architecture
Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg was built by French colonists in 1719.
1729Military
On 29 November 1729, the Natchez attacked the fort and plantations in and around the present-day city of Natchez.
1790Military
In 1790, the Spanish founded a military outpost on the site, which they called Fort Nogales (nogales meaning "walnut trees").
1797Military
1797)
Old Court House Museum (1861)
Vicksburg National Military Park
Pemberton's Headquarters
U.S.S.
1798Military
When the Americans took possession in 1798 following the American Revolutionary War and a treaty with Spain, they changed the name to Walnut Hills.
1801Military
Under pressure from the US government, the Choctaw agreed to cede nearly 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of land to the US under the terms of the Treaty of Fort Adams in 1801.
1825Government
It was incorporated as Vicksburg in 1825 after Methodist missionary Newitt Vick.
1830History
The treaty was the first of a series that eventually led to the removal of most of the Choctaw to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River in 1830.
1835History
In 1835, during the Murrell Excitement, a mob from Vicksburg attempted to expel the gamblers from the city, because the citizens were tired of the rougher element treating the c...
1861Military
=== Civil War ===
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the city finally surrendered during the Siege of Vicksburg, after which the Union Army gained control of the entire ...
1863Military
During the American Civil War, it was a key Confederate river-port, and its July 1863 surrender to Ulysses S.
1864History
Two years later in 1864, the Anshe Chesed Cemetery was formed, and it was the second Jewish cemetery in the city; not much is known about the first Jewish cemetery.
1865Military
From the surrender of Vicksburg until the end of the war in 1865, the area was under Union military occupation.
1870History
It was suppressed about 1870.
1874Crime
After the war came the Reconstruction era and then a violent return to power by white supremacists in 1874 and 1875, including the Vicksburg massacre.
1875Military
Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg in January 1875.
1876Disaster
However, in 1876, a Mississippi River flood cut off the large meander next to Vicksburg through the De Soto Point, which changed the Mississippi River's course away from the city.
1877Military
From 1877 to 1950 in Warren County, 14 African Americans were lynched by whites, most in the decades near the turn of the century.
1883History
The Vicksburg Evening Post of July 4, 1883, called July 4 "the day we don't celebrate", and another Vicksburg newspaper, the Daily Commercial Appeal, in 1888 hoped that a politi...
1890History
A large parade was held in 1890.
1894Civil Rights
On March 12, 1894, the popular soft drink Coca-Cola was bottled for the first time in Vicksburg by Joseph A.
1902History
In 1902, the 4th of July saw only "a parade of colored draymen".
1903Infrastructure
The city's economy suffered greatly due to the lack of a functional river port; Vicksburg would not be a river town again until the completion of the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 19...
1907History
A recent scholar disagrees, stating that large Fourth of July celebrations were being held by 1907, and informal celebrations before that.
1908History
In 1908, a publication documented some of Vicksburg's leading African Americans including lawyer and banker W.
1913History
Senator from Nevada, 1913–40; born in Vicksburg
Vail M.
1919Crime
In May 1919, as many as a thousand white men broke down three sets of steel doors to abduct, hang, burn and shoot a black prisoner, Lloyd Clay, who was falsely accused of raping...
1927Disaster
During the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, in which hundreds of thousands of acres were inundated, Vicksburg served as the primary gathering point for refugees.
1929Architecture
Railroad access to the west across the river continued to be by transfer steamers and ferry barges until a combination railroad-highway bridge was built in 1929.
1936Culture
Every summer since 1936, Vicksburg Theatre Guild has hosted Gold in the Hills, which holds the Guinness World Record for longest-running show.
1947Military
Celebrations of the 4th of July, the day of surrender, were irregular until 1947.
1957Government
Past mayors include Johnnie Holland 1957–1968 and Nat Bullard 1973–1977.
1959History
First graduating class 1959.
1965Education
Culkin Academy (grades 1-12 until 1965, thereafter Culkin Elementary School).
1967History
The final train serving Vicksburg was the Southwestern Limited/Northeastern Limited in 1967.
1973Architecture
After 1973, Interstate 20 bridged the river.
1974History
On Elton John's 1974 album Caribou, the song "Dixy Lily" contains the lyrics "Down from Louisiana on the Vicksburg run." in the chorus.
1976History
The city is mentioned multiple times in the series of books surrounding the Logan family, including Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976) and Let The Circle Be Unbroken (1981), by...
1982Infrastructure
Heinlein's 1982 science fiction novel Friday as a town in the Lone Star Republic, a leading smugglers' port between Texas and the Chicago Imperium.
1988Government
Robert Major Walker was elected the city's first African American mayor in a special election in 1988 and was re-elected in 1989.
1993History
He was succeeded by Joe Loviza who served 1993–1997.
1997Government
Walker was re-elected in 1997.
2001History
=== Early 21st century ===
In 2001, a group of Vicksburg residents visited the Paducah, Kentucky, mural project, looking for ideas for their own community development.
2002Disaster
In 2002, the Vicksburg Riverfront murals program was begun by Louisiana mural artist Robert Dafford and his team on the floodwall located on the waterfront in downtown.
2009History
The project was finished in 2009 with the completion of the Jitney Jungle/Glass Kitchen mural.
2010History
In the fall of 2010, a new 55-foot mural was painted on a section of wall on Grove Hill across the street from the original project by former Dafford muralists Benny Graeff and ...
2014Crime
On December 6–7, 2014, a symposium was held on the 140th anniversary of the 1874 riots.
2017Military
In 2017, Emma Green of The Atlantic stated, "The Army Corps of Engineers sustains the town economically".
2020History
=== 2020 census ===
As of the 2020 census, there were 21,573 people, 9,277 households, and 5,317 families residing in the city.
2021Government
In 2021 the mayor got a $20,000 pay raise.
2023History
As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 8,158 estimated households in Vicksburg with an average of 2.50 persons per household.
2025History
== Demographics ==
According to realtor website Zillow, the average price of a home as of October 31, 2025, in Vicksburg is $137,869.