Vicksburg's Best Kept Secret

I remember a restaurant in Vicksburg (called Sherman's) that sat near the entrance to the National Military Park in Vicksburg some years back. The back of the restaurant was a relic museum full of local Vicksburg dug artifacts. And lots of LIVE ordnance. It was shut down pretty quick when the National Park Service got nervous.
I remember when I was a kid there was a drug store downtown that had many shells on display. Do you remember the name of it?
 
I'm going to mention the Old Depot Museum as a good little place to visit. Of course, it has the Vicksburg diorama currently displayed.

Wonder if the old man working there ever got started on his Chickasaw Bayou diorama. He said he didn't have a lot of funding for it but was going to do it anyway. We had a nice long chat there.
That building has been many things over the years.

I can still remember when it housed a very good restaurant back "in the day".
 
it has the Vicksburg diorama currently displayed.
Now that is great news !

The last time I saw that diorama was when it was displayed at the "navy" museum.
Not a true museum . . . but it was worth a look.
( A private venture very close to the National Park entrance )

It was a massive structure designed as a giant ironclad.
Anyone traveling Interstate 20 from Dallas,Texas to Atlanta,Georgia could see it from the highway.

Actually kind of a typical tourist trap.

:bounce:


It's "claim to fame" was the collection of 100's of models of Civil War era vessels

And yes . . . some very impressive scratch built ship models were on display!

I think they also showed a video of the original NPS 1950's era Vicksburg Visitor Center film.
 
Now that is great news !

The last time I saw that diorama was when it was displayed at the "navy" museum.
Not a true museum . . . but it was worth a look.
( A private venture very close to the National Park entrance )

It was a massive structure designed as a giant ironclad.
Anyone traveling Interstate 20 from Dallas,Texas to Atlanta,Georgia could see it from the highway.

Actually kind of a typical tourist trap.

:bounce:


It's "claim to fame" was the collection of 100's of models of Civil War era vessels

And yes . . . some very impressive scratch built ship models were on display!

I think they also showed a video of the original NPS 1950's era Vicksburg Visitor Center film.

That place's location was pointed out to me in 2019.
 
A really awesome museum. Supposedly all the new-fangled technology inventions are for the new generations to have their history interpreted for them. For some reason the actual relics just don't impress the public because they want to see what use can be made with electronics. Why the two integrated is beyond my calculations. An electronics laboratory dedicated to robots and 'toys' is spot on, and a Civil War Museum showing actual relics is also spot on. Something like nothing needs to be done whenever the two meet.
Lubliner.
 
The salt shakers that the museum gave us back in 1996.
20201229_200327.jpg
 
This is a little local museum.

To be honest I can't answer your question.
But I do know it's not owned by the State.

One of our members used to work there. I'm sure he can provide details.

Paging @Championhilz .
I'm not sure how the Old Court House could be classed as a small museum.
Compared to the Smithsonians maybe, but compared to the Sultana Museum the Old Court House id gigantic
 
I remember a restaurant in Vicksburg (called Sherman's) that sat near the entrance to the National Military Park in Vicksburg some years back. The back of the restaurant was a relic museum full of local Vicksburg dug artifacts. And lots of LIVE ordnance. It was shut down pretty quick when the National Park Service got nervous.
There was also a drug store that looked like an ordnance museum-Would you like a Parrott shell with that bottle of aspirin? and If I remember correctly, it was also where Coca Cola was invented. There was also a Columbiad cannon mounted nearby.
 
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There was also a drug store that looked like an ordnance museum-Would you like a Parrott shell with that bottle of aspirin? and If I remember correctly, it was also where Coca Cola was invented. There was also a Columbiad cannon mounted nearby.
It was a pharmacy run by a man that collected civil war artifacts. The Columbiad was actually a 9 inch Dahlgren cannon he dug up in a ladies yard north of the city. He gave it to the city and it was mounted on the city street in front of his pharmacy. He had an incredible collection.
 
It was a pharmacy run by a man that collected civil war artifacts. The Columbiad was actually a 9 inch Dahlgren cannon he dug up in a ladies yard north of the city. He gave it to the city and it was mounted on the city street in front of his pharmacy. He had an incredible collection.
Do you know where the cannon is now?
 
In 2019 Tom and I were looking at the artillery shell displays, and he just looked over and said quietly "You notice the shells?" me not getting it and saying how great a display it was he halfway frustrated said "Look at them closer. They're live." before chuckling. I looked at them and noticed he was right.

About that time @ucvrelics walks by and tells me about the basement!

Hiroshima won't have nothing on Vicksburg if there's fire....

But I wouldn't have the museum any other way. It has an old fashioned feel and environment that most museums have lost in their "hip" craziness with updating. They need to do a little deactivating though....
Last I saw, it was still mounted on Washington Street facing west toward the river.
The name of the man that had the pharmacy was Mr. Gerache (?)
Joe Gerache. He told me that that an older black lady had, while digging in her flower garden, struck a large piece of iron, too big (!!!) to dig out. More digging revealed it to be very big. Somehow Gerache heard about it and checked it out. He specifically told me that when he realized it was heavy artillery he paid to have a spur line built to the RR. This was the only way to remove it from the lady's yard. He never said exactly how he got it moved to the street corner by his drugstore.
 
Joe Gerache. He told me that that an older black lady had, while digging in her flower garden, struck a large piece of iron, too big (!!!) to dig out. More digging revealed it to be very big. Somehow Gerache heard about it and checked it out. He specifically told me that when he realized it was heavy artillery he paid to have a spur line built to the RR. This was the only way to remove it from the lady's yard. He never said exactly how he got it moved to the street corner by his drugstore.
1123 Washington St. Corner of Washington and Mulberry/China sts.
I just checked Google maps and it shows the building is empty and for lease.
 
Joe Gerache. He told me that that an older black lady had, while digging in her flower garden, struck a large piece of iron, too big (!!!) to dig out. More digging revealed it to be very big. Somehow Gerache heard about it and checked it out. He specifically told me that when he realized it was heavy artillery he paid to have a spur line built to the RR. This was the only way to remove it from the lady's yard. He never said exactly how he got it moved to the street corner by his drugstore.
Since it technically belonged to the Federal government, he told me that he had a choice:
He wisely donated it to the city of Vicksburg which prominently displayed his cannon in front of his pharmacy where it still sits to this day. A win-win for everybody
 
There used to be a Doll Museum just down from the Old Courthouse Museum. That guy had a great shell collection displayed in there. I'm not into antique dolls, but more than once I went in there to look at his shells!
Not sure it's still there anymore.

Another museum worth visiting ($5 fee) is the Railroad Depot Museum. It is 2 stories tall and houses railroad, civil war, antebellum, and a huge collection of model ships from over the years. Well worth the visit.

One more museum worth visiting is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers museum which has limited artifacts but good information on the Mississippi river through the years and they even have a river tug that you can board and walk through. Very interesting indeed.
 
Please forgive my rambling here, but I remember 30+ years ago, you could walk down Washington Street in downtown Vicksburg and literally almost every store-front had shells, fragments, and other rusty artifacts displayed on their window displays. It was the coolest thing. It was like the citizenry of Vicksburg was saying to the world - "We Will Never Forget".

Every time there was exposed dirt from a construction or building foundation you could find some kind of artifact exposed.
 
Please forgive my rambling here, but I remember 30+ years ago, you could walk down Washington Street in downtown Vicksburg and literally almost every store-front had shells, fragments, and other rusty artifacts displayed on their window displays. It was the coolest thing. It was like the citizenry of Vicksburg was saying to the world - "We Will Never Forget".

Every time there was exposed dirt from a construction or building foundation you could find some kind of artifact exposed.
I have a 13" Mortar Ball that supposedly came from about 20' down when they were digging the foundations for a Vicksburg Holiday Inn.
 
Joe Gerache. He told me that that an older black lady had, while digging in her flower garden, struck a large piece of iron, too big (!!!) to dig out. More digging revealed it to be very big. Somehow Gerache heard about it and checked it out. He specifically told me that when he realized it was heavy artillery he paid to have a spur line built to the RR. This was the only way to remove it from the lady's yard. He never said exactly how he got it moved to the street corner by his drugstore.
Now that's what I call a serious collector.
 
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