USS Cairo

Vicksburg National Military Park > USS Cairo Gunboat

The USS Cairo is one of seven steam-powered ironclad gunboats designed and built by James Eads for the Union Navy during the US civil war. All seven gunboats were built within 100 days.  The Cairo was sunk by a mine in December 1852 on the Yazoo River.  The wreck was discovered in 1956, and raised -- in pieces -- 102 years after she sank.

Yazoo Canal

Vicksburg Riverfront Murals

Unattractive concrete flood walls protect many river towns from river flooding. After a visit to the flood wall murals in Paducah, Kentucky, a group of Vicksburg, Mississippi, residents championed a similar project in Vicksburg.

Since 2002, the flood walls along the Yazoo River in Vicksburg have served as a canvas for capturing images of history and life in Vicksburg.