This partial list of city nicknames in Mississippi compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities in Mississippi are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity. Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth" are also believed to have economic value. Their economic value is difficult to measure, but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City , MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency. Artesia – Johnson Grass Capital of the WorldWanda McKinney, Our Favorite Town Slogans, Southern Living, April 2005 Belzoni – Catfish Capital of the World.Claims to Fame - Fish , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007. Biloxi – The Playground of the SouthU.S. City Monikers, Tagline Guru website, accessed January 5, 2008 Columbus – Possum Town Greenwood – Cotton Capital of the World.Claims to Fame - Agriculture, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007. Gulfport Root Beer Capital of the World. Where Your Ship Comes InTagline Guru City Branding Survey, Tagline Guru website, accessed August 18, 2009 Hattiesburg – Hub CityMayor's Message , Hattiesburg, Mississippi, accessed April 22, 2007. "Hattiesburg's population first took off as a center of the lumber and railroad industries giving us our nickname "The Hub City."" Jackson Chimneyville Lynch, Adam. "Chump Change for Chimneyville" , Jackson Free Press, April 4, 2007, accessed April 22, 2007 City with Soul."Image Committee launches “City With Soul” campaign" , Jackson, Mississippi Convention & Visitors Bureau. Accessed April 10, 2008. Long Beach – Radish Capital of the World Meridian – The Queen City Oxford The literary center of the SouthHistory of Oxford , Oxford, Mississippi website, accessed May 5, 2009 The Little Easy (in reference to New Orleans, the "Big Easy") The Velvet Ditch Port Gibson – The town too beautiful to burnPort Gibson, Mississippi Senatobia – The Five Star CityCity of Senatobia website Starkville – Starkvegas Vicksburg The Gibraltar of America.National Military Park Louisiana/Mississippi: Vicksburg, National Park Service. Accessed June 13, 2007. "Jefferson Davis called Vicksburg "The Gibraltar of America." By the summer of 1862, Vicksburg was the nail holding the Confederacy together." Red Carpet City of the South Take Me to the River
See also List of city nicknames in the United States
References