JACKSON , poised two hundred miles from both Memphis and New Orleans, has been Mississippi's state capital since 1821. Only in the twentieth century, however, did it become the largest conurbation in the state, flourishing as a center for health and technological industries.

The Old Capitol , now the State Historical Museum (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 9.30am-4.30pm, Sun 12.30-4.30pm; free), charts Mississippi's unenviable history, with excellent displays on civil rights and slavery; note the chilling notices for slave auctions. The "new" Mississippi State Capitol , 400 High St (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm; free), built in 1903 as a Beaux Arts-style showpiece, is much more ornate. In true rebel fashion, the gilt eagle on the roof looks away from Washington. A block west at 528 Bloom St, the unmissable Smith-Robertson Museum and Cultural Center , in Jackson's first public school for blacks (1894-1971), tells the story of black Mississippians since the French first imported slaves in 1719. Subjects covered include "folk architecture" - black homesteads built in the same period as the grand antebellum homes so beloved of the tourist boards, but left to decay - and patterns of migration after the Civil War. Photos and personal testimony show how Mississippians survived the onslaught of Jim Crow laws through their institutions of school, church and family (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-1pm, Sun 2-5pm; $1).