JACKSON

city, seat (1832) of Jackson county, south-central Michigan, U.S. It lies along the Grand River, 73 miles (117 km) west of Detroit. Settled in 1829 at the meeting point of several Indian trails, it was named for President Andrew Jackson and was known successively as Jacksonburgh, Jacksonopolis, and finally Jackson in 1833. The Republican Party held its first convention on July 6, 1854, in Jackson. The city became an early leader in the production of automobiles. With the transfer of the auto industry to other cities, Jackson acquired allied industries (auto parts and tires) and other manufactures, including steel, air-conditioning equipment, and aircraft parts. Jackson Community College was established in 1928. The Michigan Space Center in the city is housed in a geodesic dome. The Illuminated Cascades (man-made waterfalls) are in the Sparks Foundation County Park. Inc. village, 1843; city, 1857. Pop. (1990) city, 37,446; Jackson MSA, 149,756. city, capital of Mississippi, U.S. It lies along the Pearl River, in the west-central part of the state. Jackson is also the coseat (with nearby Raymond) of Hinds county. Settled (1792) by Louis Le Fleur, a French-Canadian trader, and known as Le Fleur's Bluff, it remained a trading post until the Treaty of Doak's Stand (Oct. 18, 1820) opened the territory to white settlement. Selected as the site for the state capital and named for General Andrew Jackson, it was laid out (April 1822) using Thomas Jefferson's checkerboard plan with alternate squares designated as parks. The state legislature first met there Dec. 23, 1822. The first railroad arrived in 1840. During the Vicksburg campaigns of the American Civil War the city was occupied four times by Federal troops, and its reduction to ashes (July 716, 1863) by General William T. Sherman's forces caused it to be known as Chimneyville. After the Civil War Jackson was troubled by a corrupt city government run by carpetbaggers, and its recovery was slow until the arrival of new railroads in the 1880s. The Old Capitol (183342; scene of the state Secession and Constitutional Convention , and restored as a historical museum) was replaced by the New Capitol (1903) in gray stone. The Governor's Mansion (1842) served as headquarters for generals Ulysses S. Grant and Sherman. The discovery of nearby natural gas fields in the 1930s supplied cheaper fuel and stimulated industrial growth. Jackson progressed rapidly in the 20th century, becoming an important railroad, shipping, manufacturing, and educational centre with a well-diversified economy. The Pearl River Flood and Drainage Project (constructed in the 1960s and impounding Ross Barnett Reservoir) has provided industrial, agricultural, and recreational benefits. The city is the home of Millsaps College (1890), Belhaven College (1883), Jackson State University (1877), University of Mississippi Medical Center (1955), and the Mississippi Universities Center (embracing programs of the three state universities). The Mississippi Arts Festival, State Fair, and State Horse Show are annual events. Inc. 1823. Pop. (1991 est.) city, 198,183; Jackson MSA, 398,384. city, seat (1821) of Madison county, western Tennessee, U.S. It lies 74 miles (119 km) northeast of Memphis. It was settled in the early 1820s as a port on the Forked Deer River and developed as a cotton depot and railroad junction. First called Alexandria, the community was renamed in 1822 to honour General (later President) Andrew Jackson. As a supply point it was occupied by both Confederate and Federal troops during the American Civil War. Jackson's growth was fostered by the establishment there of Union University (1825; affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention), Lambuth College (1843; United Methodist), and Lane College (1882; Christian Methodist Episcopal Church). Jackson State Community College was opened in 1967. The city's economy is now well diversified, based on agriculture, industry, and its educational facilities. Products include textiles, wood and paper products, power tools, batteries, offset printing plates, and aluminum foil. Food processing and soft-drink bottling are also important. John Luther (Casey) Jones, the railroad engineer famed for his peculiar skill with a locomotive whistle, who was killed in a wreck (1900) on the Illinois Central's Cannonball Express, is buried in Jackson's Calvary Cemetery; his home is now a railroad museum. In Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park, 11 miles (18 km) south of the city, are prehistoric Indian mounds of the so-called Temple period. Shiloh National Military Park, the site of a bitter Civil War battle (April 67, 1862), is 42 miles (68 km) southwest of Jackson, near the Mississippi border. Inc. town, 1823; city, 1845. Pop. (1990) city, 49,115; Jackson MSA, 77,982; (1994 est.) city, 52,343; (1995 est.) Jackson MSA, 83,715.