National Mississippi Day Date in the current year: November 30, 2025

Mississippi is a state in the American Southeast and Deep South bordered by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and the Gulf of Mexico. The state’s name comes from the Mississippi River, which means “great river” in the Ojibwe language. Mississippi’s official nickname is the Magnolia State, though it is also known as the Hospitality State, the Sipp, and the Birthplace of America’s Music.

Prior to European colonization, the territory that is now Mississippi was inhabited by Native American tribes such as the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Biloxi, Natchez, and Yazoo. The first Europeans to visit the region were members of a Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto. However, it was the French who claimed the entire Mississippi River drainage basin as part of New France in the late 17th century. They named the colony Louisiana after King Louis XVI.

However, in 1762, France secretly ceded Louisiana to Spain under the Treaty of Fontainebleau near the end of the Seven Years’ War. In 1800, Spain secretly returned Louisiana to France under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. A portion of present-day Mississippi came under British control in 1763 as part of West Florida. Spain gained control of West Florida through the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

In 1798, the United States organized the land east of the Mississippi River as the Mississippi Territory. When France sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1804, the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase was incorporated into the Mississippi Territory. In 1812, the United States annexed the Mobile District of West Florida, incorporating it into the Mississippi Territory as well.

Thanks to its favorable climate and inexpensive land perfect for cotton growing, the Mississippi Territory attracted settlers from other parts of the United States. By 1820, its population had grown dramatically, reaching over 222,000 people, up from approximately 9,000 in 1798. Due to the expansion of cotton cultivation, politics in the Mississippi Territory came to be controlled by an elite group of wealthy white planters.

In 1817, delegates from the western part of the territory drafted a state constitution and submitted an application for statehood to Congress. On December 10, 1817, the western portion of the Mississippi Territory officially joined the Union as the State of Mississippi, while the remaining eastern portion was reorganized as the Alabama Territory.

National Mississippi Day does not coincide with the state’s anniversary of admission because it is part of the National Day Calendar’s National State Days project. In this project, states are celebrated in the order they joined the Union. As a result, National Mississippi Day falls on November 30. Like the rest of National State Days created by National Day Calendar, National Mississippi Day is not celebrated in any official capacity.