Hazlehurst: Railroad History and Music

Hazlehurst offers several cultural ways to explore a place in transition: the Hazlehurst Historic District tells the story of development along a railroad line, while the Mississippi Music Museum showcases artists from Mississippi. There is also the annual Rockin’ Railroad Festival, featuring live music. When planning a trip, you can choose between local history, music, and a visit centered around the festival.

Development of the Town in the Historic District

The Hazlehurst Historic District is significant at the local level in the areas of community planning and development, commerce, industry, transportation, and architecture. The buildings in the district illustrate Hazlehurst’s development from a small station on the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad line into an agricultural and industrial center.

A very well-preserved concentration of commercial, industrial, religious, residential, and governmental buildings and resources also makes the district thematically diverse. As you explore Hazlehurst, you can use the different functions of the buildings as a guiding thread instead of viewing the town through just one theme. On a family trip, this can be a conversation starter: What roles do commerce, government, or religious institutions play in a community? This makes the town’s history tangible through different types of buildings, without requiring you to focus on a particular era.

Music in the Former Railroad Station

The Mississippi Music Museum is housed in the former railroad station in downtown Hazlehurst. The station gives a museum visit its own historical setting, while the focus is on music. The museum showcases Robert Johnson and other locally known artists from Mississippi. If you’re interested in music and regional artists, this focus adds another cultural perspective to the town’s history.

The museum is open Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Take these hours into account when planning your day, and schedule a possible museum visit within this time window. This lets you tailor your stay to one of the two cultural highlights: Hazlehurst’s history or the artists featured in the museum.

An Annual Music Festival

The Rockin’ Railroad Festival takes place annually in Hazlehurst and features live gospel, blues, and rock ’n’ roll music. This sets it apart from the museum: the event brings several music genres together, while the museum showcases Robert Johnson and other locally known artists from Mississippi. For music lovers, the festival can therefore be a reason in its own right to include Hazlehurst in their travel plans.

The two musical offerings appeal to different interests. If you’d like to discover artists and music in a museum setting, you can take the Mississippi Music Museum’s opening hours into account. If you’re mainly interested in experiencing live gospel, blues, and rock ’n’ roll, your plans will center more on the annual festival. No specific festival date is given here, so plan your trip around the date on which the festival actually takes place.

Which focus suits your trip?

When choosing a vacation rental, consider whether Hazlehurst’s local history or music will be the main focus of your trip.

For the broader travel overview: Copiah County.