From its days as home to American Indian tribes to its role in the Civil Rights movement, Mississippi has a history as long and winding as the great river that runs along its western border. France, Britain and Spain all raised flags over the region at one time or another before the United States made Mississippi a territory — with parts of Georgia and South Carolina — in 1798. Whichever twists and turns of history your Mississippi ancestors saw, you'll find traces of their lives in the state's genealogical records.

Headwater of history