A New Civil War Museum is Coming To Vicksburg

Tom Hughes

Sergeant Major
Joined
May 27, 2019
Location
Mississippi
A new civil war museum is coming to the river city it seems. It is about to open (or just opened) at the corner of Washington St. & China Street, just down from the Biedernharm Candy Company Coke Museum.
It's theme is a little different than that of the Old Courthouse or the National Military Park. It will not only examine the experience of soldier's in the hill city during the siege but also of the civilians as well as the slaves. It will cover the time period from 1860-1870.
@alan polk and I will be checking it out soon and report back.
Be sure to check into this if any of you are in Vicksburg.
The civilian experience was certainly an important aspect of the siege that needs more attention.
Another venue for visitors to look into the past of this historic town.
 
Sounds interesting, Looking forward to you report.
 
I look forward to hearing about it!

That being said, its kind of hard to beat the Old Courthouse. Its got a relic/gift shop.
I learned a lot at my visit to The Old Courthouse. Being from Ohio is was great to get a different perspective and was very informative. Anyone visiting Vicksburg should put this on the list. The information about Jefferson Davis was worth the visit just in itself.
 
I'm a huge fan of artifacts and other items dating to the time from the area. To be honest, was kind of disappointed in the visitor center museum at Vicksburg in a 2002 visit. Enjoyed the Old Courthouse museum so much more. But than I was disappointed in the Shiloh and Antietam Visitor Center museums as well. Maybe I'm expecting too much? Thought visitor center museums at Gettysburg in the 60's and Chickamauga in 2002 were excellent. Have wondered how many items these parks have in their possession that can't be displayed for one reason or another such as space limitation etc...
 
I'm a huge fan of artifacts and other items dating to the time from the area. To be honest, was kind of disappointed in the visitor center museum at Vicksburg in a 2002 visit. Enjoyed the Old Courthouse museum so much more. But than I was disappointed in the Shiloh and Antietam Visitor Center museums as well. Maybe I'm expecting too much? Thought visitor center museums at Gettysburg in the 60's and Chickamauga in 2002 were excellent. Have wondered how many items these parks have in their possession that can't be displayed for one reason or another such as space limitation etc...
I agree with you Lincoln56. I really think some of these museums could do a better job in using the artifacts that they have in their care to better interpret the battlefields, camp and civilian life.
Vicksburg, for instance, was known for its siege. Artillery shells told the story of the hell that city went through. But I bet there is not but 3 or 4 shells on display in the park museum. And there's not one minie ball on display.
They did change up the movie and it's 100% better.
 
I recall wondering if I'd caught Vicksburg VC at a bad time when they might be changing out display content since there was so few of the items as you describe on display.

Good to know about the Vicksburg movie; good to see centers being able to upgrade in this regard. You're possibly aware Shiloh has transitioned from their circa 1955 park movie to "Shiloh - Fiery Trial" in 2012, a definite improvement.
 
It occurs to me lately the push by NPS is to push non battle history, slavery, USCT, causes of war ect.........which then considerably diminishes what is left to actually present the battle/campaign.

Which would think the focus of a battlefield museum perhaps should be......like the actual battle......

I actually like a separate area museum to focus on the civilian aspect, so the the others can hopefully focus on the battle
 
The campaign for Vicksburg was complex and interesting, covering hundreds of miles of land and water by tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Many battles were fought before the siege actually began and then that in itself was another whole dynamic.
I could go on and on. It would be nice to have a NPS museum for each individual battle as well (Port Gibson, Raymond, Champion Hill, Big Black). And don't forget about what went on across the river in Louisiana - the Walnut Bayou campaign, Duckport Canal, Grant's Canal, and the overland campaign to eventually invade Mississippi.
So much to interpret and so little money to build and maintain what would be needed to do so.
 
I'm a huge fan of artifacts and other items dating to the time from the area. To be honest, was kind of disappointed in the visitor center museum at Vicksburg in a 2002 visit. Enjoyed the Old Courthouse museum so much more. But than I was disappointed in the Shiloh and Antietam Visitor Center museums as well. Maybe I'm expecting too much? Thought visitor center museums at Gettysburg in the 60's and Chickamauga in 2002 were excellent. Have wondered how many items these parks have in their possession that can't be displayed for one reason or another such as space limitation etc...
There seem to be two factors working against real museums - and not just Visitor Centers - such as you describe (and that I far prefer!):
1) The modern public and especially their children have been brainwashed by the media into an ADD-like inability to concentrate and a resulting lack of interest in anything that takes more than a few seconds to ingest; and
2) Many NPS sites such as Gettysburg's present Visitor Center are more interested in simply processing streams of visitors rather than even attempting anything like educating them.
 
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A new civil war museum is coming to the river city it seems. It is about to open (or just opened) at the corner of Washington St. & China Street, just down from the Biedernharm Candy Company Coke Museum.
It's theme is a little different than that of the Old Courthouse or the National Military Park. It will not only examine the experience of soldier's in the hill city during the siege but also of the civilians as well as the slaves. It will cover the time period from 1860-1870.
@alan polk and I will be checking it out soon and report back.
Be sure to check into this if any of you are in Vicksburg.
The civilian experience was certainly an important aspect of the siege that needs more attention.
Another venue for visitors to look into the past of this historic town.
This sounds suspiciously like it's intended to be the Politically Correct Cancel Culture Vicksburg Museum, in direct opposition to the Old Courthouse's Lost Cause.
 
This sounds suspiciously like it's intended to be the Politically Correct Cancel Culture Vicksburg Museum, in direct opposition to the Old Courthouse's Lost Cause.
It's keying in on the civilian experience as well as the African/slave experience in Vicksburg. I'm anxious to see how this is handled as well. I was in recent contact with the owner and he's saying it should be open in about 2 more weeks.
 
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