VICKSBURG, Miss. (WJTV) – Vicksburg is known as the River City.
There are plenty of attractions in the city, including the Vicksburg National Military Park, the Coca-Cola Museum and the Civil War Museum.
The Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum features the history of one of the nation’s most beloved beverages, along with the equipment that was used to bottle coke for the first time anywhere in the world.
“This is where Coca-Cola was first bottled anywhere in the world in 1894. The Biedenharns had three candy stores in Vicksburg. This is the only one that now remains. They built this one in 1890. In those days, there were literally hundreds of flavors of drinks. So, you know, you had a lot to choose from. But what Mr. Biedenharn found was that most people wanted Coca-Cola, and so he got so many requests for bottled Coca-Cola, that he bottled two cases in his own bottles. He sent it to Atlanta to ask for permission. And they said, ‘Yeah, you can bottle if you want to amount to anything, but if you want to do it, go ahead.’ And that’s really what launched Coca-Cola was that ability to get anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” explained Nancy Bell, who works at the museum.
The museum offers ice cream, fountain cokes, coke floats and a wide selection of coke souvenirs.
Vicksburg is also leading the state in terms of new technology with their new M-City building.
M-City’s mission is to support the expansion of high-technology employment opportunities by leveraging Vicksburg and Warren County’s technology and engineering clusters. This is the only place for some of its state-of-the-art tech.
“It’s huge. It’s huge because there’s a lot of opportunity here. It’s, you know, Vicksburg is revitalizing. And this is this can be a central point for this can pull Vulcan forward. And it’s… it’s big because there is a need here and to have it and have it in this location is big,” said Corey Durham, the workforce system administrator with Hinds Community College.
Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the project will help attract more population and retail outlets to the city.
“Hopefully, that had an impact in a very positive way. We believe we can create jobs by having this center. This is probably the most modern facility we’ve got in this city,” said Flaggs. “The goal here is to transform this whole city, this downtown area, and be able to collaborate in a way there’s never before around technology.”
M-City is rapidly becoming a leading component of the state’s technology and innovation initiatives.
“We do have a presence of Hinds Community College downstairs and also through the Mississippi Research Council. We have a presence of Mississippi State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, Ole Miss, and also Jackson State University, and also Alcorn State University that is coming soon,” said Pablo Diaz, president and CEO of the Vicksburg Chamber of Commerce.
Work on the facility is expected to be finished by August 2023.
Vicksburg also has an an open air grill and bar known as 10 South Rooftop Bar & Grill.
The restaurant offers a view of historic downtown Vicksburg and the Mississippi River. They offer burgers, sandwiches, BBQ and seafood.
“So not only the food and the drinks, the atmosphere is great. My wife and I come up here all the time. You’ve got the view you’ve got from the Port of Vicksburg, the military park down south, the bridge, the whole nine yards. So you can kind of see everything up here. You get to watch sunsets. We’ve set up here many nights, watched sunsets, drinking a cold beer at the bar. So, they actually have a drink named after my wife. I have to give her credit on that one. It’s called the Lauren. It’s an off-menu drink. But one of the bartenders set up here one night with my wife, and they sat here and perfected some drink called the Lauren. And all the bartenders know how to make it now,” said Jeffery Stokes, a longtime customer.