Amid the wild countryside that crowds around it on all sides, Anchorage has grown into a vigorous, spirited, cosmopolitan city---by far Alaska's largest and most sophisticated. The relative affluence of this white-collar city---with a sprinkling of olive drab from nearby military bases---attracts fine restaurants and pricey shops, first-rate entertainment, and world-class sporting events. Flashy modern towers stab the skyline, and colorful flowers spill from hundreds of baskets on downtown lampposts. Traffic from the city's busy international airport, served by more than 15 international and domestic airlines, lends Anchorage a more cosmopolitan air than you might expect from a city with a population of 258,000, nearly half the people in the state. You'll also discover some development you may not have come to Alaska to see---14 McDonald's, 2 Wal-Marts, a 16-plex movie theater, and dozens of espresso bars. Those who live in the Bush joke about "being able to see Alaska from Anchorage," but the city has not entirely lost touch with its frontier spirit. Sled-dog races are still among the most revered events held here, moose often roam along city bike trails, and spectacular country is just a short drive away.

First incorporated in 1920, Anchorage is still a young city. The median age of 30 years and an aggressive style make it---not the capital city of Juneau---the state's power center. Nearly everything was built in the last few decades. An Anchorage home dating from the 1950s almost merits historic status. In addition to acting as the center for oil development in the state, Anchorage hustles its living as a government, banking, transportation, and communications hub.

Anchorage residents are primarily from elsewhere in America---including oil workers from such conservative oil-patch states as Oklahoma and Texas---and the attitudes they bring have added fuel to the fire of the conservative, pro-development mentality that characterizes the city, and Alaska, as a whole. Although representing less than 8% of the population, Alaskan Native peoples add an important cultural dimension. A growing Asian population is also having an impact, with well-stocked Asian food stores and restaurants an increasingly familiar sight.

Anchorage got its start with the construction of the federally built Alaska Railroad, completed in 1917, and traces of the city's railroad heritage remain today. Once the tracks were laid, the town grew because its pioneer forerunners actively sought growth by hook and---not infrequently---by crook. City officials used to delight in telling how they tricked a visiting member of Congress into dedicating a site for a not-yet-approved federal hospital.

Boom and bust periods followed major events: an influx of military bases during World War II; a massive buildup of Arctic missile-warning stations during the Cold War; reconstruction following the devastating Good Friday earthquake of 1964; and in the late 1960s the biggest bonanza of all---the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline. Not surprisingly, Anchorage positioned itself as the perfect home for the new pipeline administrators and support industries, and it attracts a large share of the state's oil-tax dollars.

In the last decade, Anchorage has become an increasingly important focus of travelers to Alaska. The central location, relatively mild climate, and excellent transportation system make it a natural place to begin or end a trip.

Juneau, Alaska's capital and third-largest city, is on the North American mainland but can't be reached by road. The city owes its origins to two colorful sourdoughs, Joe Juneau and Dick Harris, and to a Tlingit chief named Kowee. The chief led the two men to rich reserves of gold in the outwash of the stream that now runs through the middle of town and in quartz rock formations back in the gulches and valleys. That was in 1880, and shortly after the discovery a modest stampede resulted in the formation of first a camp, then a town, then finally the Alaska district government capital in 1906.

For 60 years or so after Juneau's founding, gold was the mainstay of the economy. In its heyday the AJ (for Alaska Juneau) gold mine was the biggest low-grade ore mine in the world. It was not until World War II, when the government decided it needed Juneau's manpower for the war effort, that the AJ and other mines in the area ceased operations. After the war, mining failed to start up again, and government became the city's principal employer.

Juneau is full of contrasts. The historic downtown buildings and dramatic hillside position provide a frontier feeling, but the city's cosmopolitan nature comes through in fine museums, noteworthy restaurants, and a literate and outdoorsy populace. In addition to enjoying the city itself, you will discover a tramway to alpine trails atop Mt. Roberts, densely forested wilderness areas, quiet bays for sea kayaking, and even a famous drive-up glacier. Surrounded by beautiful wilderness and glaciers in its backyard, Juneau is the cultural center of Alaska.

Little Rock is in the center of the state of Arkansas, close to the center of the United States in the Sunbelt. Sitting on the south bank of the Arkansas River, it is the state's geographical, governmental, and financial center, as well as a major convention hub. A population of 182,274 lives within the Little Rock city limits. More than 513,000 live in the greater Little Rock metropolitan area, including North Little Rock just across the Arkansas River.

Spanish and French explorers passed the site in the 16th and 17th centuries, naming it La Petite Roche because of a small outcrop that marked the transition from the flat Mississippi Delta region to the Ouachita Mountain foothills. A simple translation turned the town into Little Rock when it replaced Arkansas Post as the territorial capital in 1821.

Within an hour of Little Rock's downtown are world-renowned duck hunting in rice-growing regions to the southeast and wild scenic vistas, streams, and trails in forested mountains to the north and west.

It's easy to understand why the setting of Phoenix, the nation's eighth-largest city, is called the Valley of the Sun. At this tip of the great Sonoran Desert, which stretches from central Arizona deep into northwestern Mexico, it rains fewer than 30 days a year on average, and summer temperatures often climb above 100 degrees F for weeks at a time. That it's "a dry heat" isn't much consolation. But in spring, the dry desert soil responds magically to the touch of rain, and wildflowers display their brilliance.

As the Hohokam, who were the first settlers here more than 2,300 years ago, discovered, this miracle of spring can be enhanced by human hands. They cultivated cotton, corn, and beans, and established more than 300 mi of canals with very limited technology. No one knows why they disappeared 600 years ago, but it's thought that drought and famine simply took their toll. Until the U.S. army established Fort McDowell in the mountains to the east in 1865, the once fertile Salt River valley was forgotten. To feed the men and horses stationed in the area, the long dormant Hohokam canals were reopened in 1867, and a town, then called Punkinsville, grew up around the newly blooming region.

But by 1870, when the town site was plotted, the 300 inhabitants had decided that their new city would rise "like a phoenix" from the ashes of a vanished civilization. The new image---and the new name---stuck. Before the end of the 19th century, Phoenix wrested the title of territorial capital from Prescott. Its rise was assured in 1911, when the Roosevelt Dam cut off the Salt River 60 mi to the east. The artificial lakes created by the dam---13,000 square mi all told, an area larger than Belgium---ensured that Phoenix would remain verdant. The initial idea was to ensure the agricultural development of the area, but a huge network of canals served not only crops but a lush urban landscape. Yet, while then having a reliable water supply, Phoenix still didn't enter its real growth spurt for another 40 years, when air-conditioning made the desperately hot summers bearable.

In the 1950s and 1960s the growth of the city's manufacturing base furthered the growth in population. Between 1945 and 1960, more than 300 new industries moved into the Phoenix Valley. And the city has experienced the ups and downs of unbridled growth ever since. With so many changes, and so quickly, even long-term residents have trouble keeping up. Yet what has been good for the city's entrepreneurial zeal hasn't always been good for the residents.

Modern Phoenix is a city that's struggling to deal with the effects of increasing population and a lack of civic foresight. Once a place recommended to sufferers of asthma and other respiratory ailments, this is now a city where allergies are rampant (because of the importation of nonnative plants from the east, as well as pollution). And only now are civic leaders beginning to deal with ways to control automobile traffic and urban sprawl, and to maintain a reliable supply of drinking water for future generations. Though in truth, many cities in the American west must come to grips with these problems, and Phoenix is hardly the worst example.

For visitors, especially from November to April, when the weather is nicest, it isn't difficult to understand the lure of the desert. Residents, seldom clad in more than a light jacket, drive convertibles with the top down, eat lunch outside, and devote their spare time to outdoor pursuits. Golfers love it here, and there are more than 100 courses, several of them world-class, throughout the valley. Other recreational opportunities include hiking in the nearby mountains and swimming (up to six months out of the year). South Mountain Park is a must-see. The world's largest city park (at 17,000 acres) offers hiking and biking trails and horseback riding, an amazingly serene experience just outside this major metropolis.

However, the city's greatest allure is a way of life that keeps its own pace. Phoenix---indeed, all of central Arizona---is a low-key place where people take things easy and dress informally. And if things get a little hot in the middle of a summer day, well, at least life also slows down to an enjoyable speed. Its rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s has also brought a revitalized downtown, a rapidly emerging culinary scene, and professional sports teams, all of which give visitors more reason to come and, perhaps, to stay. One might say that Phoenix is behaving like a city with a future.

Tucson is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States; the Hohokam settled here as early as A.D. 100. The Spanish were the first Europeans to settle here, and Tucson became part of Mexico when that colony declared its independence from Spain in 1820. It became part of the United States under the Gadsden Purchase of 1854. Its name is derived from the Pima Indian name "chuk son," which means "spring at the foot of a black mountain."

When the Butterfield stage line was extended to Tucson in the 1850s, it brought along adventurers, settlers, and more than a few outlaws. The railroad came in 1880, and the University of Arizona in 1891, though Arizona didn't become a state until 1912. The city's population really began to grow during World War II, when the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was opened and brought with it an aerospace industry. However, as in Phoenix, folks could not live comfortably here year-round until the development of modern air-conditioning in the 1950s. Nowadays, more businesses and people relocate because of the lower cost of living here, the cleaner environment, and the spectacular scenery.

Although it's Arizona's second-largest city and a fast-growing metropolitan area of over 725,000 people, Tucson still feels like a small town. Perhaps this is because, while the city is a bustling center of business, it's also a laid-back university and resort town, popular for the warm sun and 320 days of clear weather a year. The population increases every winter, when average daytime temperatures are 65 degrees F, and 38 degrees F at night.

Tucson has a tri-cultural (Hispanic, Anglo, Native American) population and plenty of visitors. It's particularly popular among golfers, but it's also known as the home of world-class museums, a copper and cattle market, and the best Sonoran Mexican food north of the border. The recent influx of residents and visitors has given the city some growing pains, including questions regarding development and pollution control, which are now being addressed by city planners.

Palm Springs (pop.42,900) lies at the heart of a fast-growing desert community that now includes six distinct cities. Situated in the Coachella Valley and surrounded by 8,000-ft-high mountains, this oasis is home to 95 golf courses,600 tennis courts and 30,000 swimming pools. There are museums, world-class spas, shopping, art galleries, botanical parks, wildlife viewing, casinos, and hot air ballooning. Until recently the Palm Springs area has been a winter/spring resort luring visitors from cold climates to spend a few days or weeks in the sun, golfing, swimming, playing tennis or simply enjoying beautiful desert scenery. Within the last decade, however, the desert has become a year-round playground drawing many summer visitors who want to experience first-hand the 100-degree plus scorching heat.

Celebrities have vacationed in the desert since the 1920s, when the first resort opened in La Quinta. Although the names and faces have changed in the intervening years, the glamour remains. Today you can cruise along Bob Hope or Frank Sinatra drive, or you might run into former President Gerald Ford strolling along Palm Canyon Drive. Tiger Woods might even be staying at your hotel.

While it wasn't always so, shopping here is first rate, particularly along El Paseo in Palm Desert and at the many consignment and antiques shops scattered throughout the Coachella Valley. The same could be said for dining. You can now enjoy a delicious meal and first-class service at fine restaurants, some of which star celebrity chefs.

Expect your visit to be casual and relaxed. But heed the advice to newcomers. The desert can be dangerous. Wear sunscreen, cover up, wear a broad brimmed hat, and drink lots of water. Don't venture out alone; and avoid dirt roads unless you have four-wheel-drive.

Bounded by the Sacramento and American rivers and shaded by thousands of trees, California's capital is peaceful and seems almost rural. But it's a center of art, music, and theater, and has several fine museums. Take your pick: you can observe politicians at work or admire pickled peaches at the state fair.

Historic Old Sacramento, a string of 19th-century buildings bordering the Sacramento River, has been turned into a pleasant collection of shops and restaurants. Downtown boasts a pretty mall stretching to the ornate, domed capitol building. Sutter's Fort, in the heart of downtown, is a reminder of the city's founder, John Augustus Sutter. It was at his sawmill, about 30 mi east of the this fort, that gold was discovered in the state in 1848---sparking the infamous California Gold Rush.

Many stately Victorians of various styles and ornateness dot the town, reminders of the city's past as a wealthy center of commerce during the state's early years.

Be sure to spend some time in Old Sacramento. Once the western terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad and the short-lived Pony Express, this national landmark and state historic park encompasses 28 acres along the Sacramento River waterfront and more than 100 restored Gold Rush-era buildings. You'll find a marketplace, new public docks, excursion cruises, museums, and some of Sacramento's best restaurants. The historic Delta King, a paddlewheeler that once traveled between San Francisco and Sacramento, is permanently moored here and has a hotel and restaurant.

An interesting up-and-coming neighborhood is Del Paso, just across the American River from Sacramento proper. Until recently a decaying street of auto-repair shops, it's become a haven for small, edgy art galleries, artists' studios, and antique and rummage shops. A few good restaurants have opened too. Several times a month, the businesses here stay open late for a neighborhood walk and sometimes an impromptu street festival.

On Sacramento's outskirts, ranch homes and shopping malls reflect the growth during the 1960s from sleepy cow town to a city complete with suburban sprawl. If the place seems quiet on weekends, it's because residents have fled to the great outdoors. Sacramento is nearly equidistant to the Sierras, the San Francisco Bay area, and the Napa Valley.

Aspen became one of Colorado's early boomtowns when silver was discovered nearby in the early 1890s. Soon boasting a population of nearly 12,000, the village supported hundreds of prospectors and their families. Later, when the price of silver bottomed out, fewer than 700 residents remained in the ghost town. Aspen received a new lease on life in the 1940s when it was developed into a recreational destination with emphasis on skiing, and its year-round population is now back up to over 5,500. Its location on the western slope of the Continental Divide in central Colorado makes its ski facilities some of the best that the state has to offer. A magnet for cultural and countercultural types, the atmosphere is freewheeling and tolerant, but it is also a magnet for glittering celebrities, so a sense of wealth, style, and privilege runs almost as deep as the snow cover.

Snowmass is a development within the greater Aspen community. It consists of four ski areas, as well as an abundance of eateries, shops, and boutiques. It is a little more affordable and family oriented than some of the other glittery ski resorts nearby.

With a population of 85,000, Boulder, the home of the University of Colorado, sits nestled in the midst of the Rocky Mountains just a few miles northwest of Denver. Since 1998 it has been more widely known as the home of JonBenet Ramsey than for the many scientific and technological concerns---both governmental and private---that have their headquarters here. Indeed, much of the city's present-day economy is linked to these industries. Yet, Boulder still has the feel of a college town with an arty, liberal tradition. Locals are outdoor oriented (the city has 25,000 acres of parks and other green spaces) and are almost as likely to ride a mountain bike as drive an SUV.

First settled by Swedes in 1655, Wilmington was taken over by Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch and later by the British. It was William Penn and the Quakers who brought prosperity, making Wilmington a major shipping and commerce hub.

In modern times the city's claim to fame has been its location, halfway between New York City and Washington, D.C. Many corporations like the equal access to both commerce and government so much that they have set up shop in the city, which is sometimes called the world's corporate capital. While the DuPont Co. has long called Wilmington home, the area's biggest businesses now are credit card banks, attracted by the state's laissez faire attitude to interest rate charges. Banks have gobbled up downtown real estate, but little has been done to improve the inner city blight of rundown neighborhoods and empty stores in the city center. After 5 pm it's quiet downtown, as all movie theaters and most restaurants and housing developments are in the suburbs. Current efforts to establish a commercial waterfront center, much like Baltimore's to the south, have been slowed by city government squabbling and power plays. Wilmington's minor league baseball park is one of the waterfront project's keystones, and the club complex Kahunaville draws visitors into town after dark.

Up until a few years ago, if you were looking for a raucous time in Florida, this Broward County city of 150,000, about an hour north of Miami, was the place to go. During Spring Break, Fort Lauderdale was ground zero for the collegiate set, who came to party along the gorgeous 7-mi stretch of beach. It's a completely different story today. Upscale shops and restaurants now line the beachfront, where there were once T-shirt shops and fast food stands. Downtown Fort Lauderdale has been developed as more than a place for office-workers to trudge in and dash out. The tourists are now much more likely to be affluent families with children than partying students. If you ask the folks in Fort Lauderdale, no one seems to mind the change.

The first known white settler in the area, Charles Lewis, established a plantation along the New River in 1793, but it was the fort built by Major William Lauderdale at the river's mouth in 1838 that gave the town its name. Even after the Seminole wars, Fort Lauderdale was a sleepy place. Things began looking up in 1896 when the Florida East Coast Railroad reached the New River, and Fort Lauderdale was finally incorporated in 1911, with only 175 residents. But growth was still sluggish between the World Wars as a result of devastating hurricanes and the Great Depression.

The city's economic base has been largely rooted in tourism during the second half of the 20th century. Its fastest growth spurt came between the 1960s and 1980s, when Fort Lauderdale was popular as a spring break spot for vacationing college students. Although vacationers are still important to the economy, it has also become more diverse since the late 1980s due to the establishment of more manufacturing and international businesses in or near Las Olas Boulevard and the downtown area.

The town has been nicknamed the Venice of America for its 260-mi honeycomb of navigable waterways. It's almost as easy to get around here by boat as by car, and water taxis are popular with sightseers and bar-hoppers alike. A sizeable percentage of locals are boat owners. The Riverwalk, a pedestrian walkway bordering the New River, is charmed with restaurants, shops, and movie theaters. Tennis courts and golf courses abound, and jogging paths ribbon the many city parks. Stylish Las Olas Boulevard, the Galleria Mall, and the Coral Ridge Mall draw shoppers.

At the very tip of the Keys, Key West is the southernmost city in the continental United States. Originally called Cayo Hueso, Island of Bones, it is thought that the island was once a burial ground for the Caloosa Indians. The famous, including writers Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Robert Frost, as well as presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, found the same beauty and allure here that its hordes of residents and visitors find today.

It wasn't always so. From the time the U.S. acquired Florida from Spain in 1821, the big business in Key West was wrecking---rescuing people and salvaging cargo from ships that foundered on nearby reefs---until the government began building lighthouses in 1849, at least. Fishing, shrimping, sponge-gathering, and pineapple canning where important in the latter half of the 19th century, along with the military, which constructed Fort Taylor in 1845. But by 1929 the local government had begun to unravel, and when the Depression hit, the military moved out, leaving Key West hard hit. That's when it started promoting itself as a tourist destination, but a 1935 hurricane that wiped out the railroad also wiped out the tourist trade.

The resurgence of Key West started in the 1960s, when hippies flocked to the island for its lazy lifestyle and laissez-faire attitudes. Many of the restored Victorian "gingerbread" houses that now serve as accommodations for tourists were originally turned into gay guest houses during the mid-1970s, and about a fifth of locals are gay. But Key West has quite a diverse population, with large percentages of black Bahamians, Hispanics (primarily Cubans), recent refugees from the urban sprawl of mainland Florida, and long-time Key Westers, who can trace their ancestry back several decades. Overall, the island is very tolerant, and even somewhat flamboyant.

All kinds of people can be found down at Mallory Square for the evening revelry kicked off by the sunset over the Gulf. Musicians, jugglers, lovers, and vendors gather for the illustrious sunset and spend the next several hours strolling, shopping, dining, and carousing. Good restaurants are numerous, particularly along Duval Street, which is sadly losing a bit of charm with flashy new stores and T-shirt shops. Key West clubs are legendary, and the action goes on until sun-up.

St. Petersburg was founded in 1875, when John C. Williams, an early pioneer snowbird from Detroit, came down and decided to buy some land to call home. Working in conjunction with exiled Russian nobleman Pietr Dementieff, who helped build a railroad into the area and named the town after his own home in Russia, the two slowly turned this peaceful coastal area into a mecca for ailing Northerners.

Today St. Petersburg is a bustling city of 266,000 with a lively feel and an up-tempo development scheme. There are two distinct parts of St. Petersburg: its downtown area with six major museums and popular sports arenas; and the beaches ringing it, including separate communities such as Treasure Island and Madeira Beach.

Residents appreciate the outdoors, and the town boasts 102 parks and 7 mi of waterfront. The 47-mi Pinellas hiking/biking trail and five public beaches provide plenty of opportunities to get outdoors.

Walt Disney didn't have enough money to buy up a lot of extra land in Anaheim when he was planning Disneyland, but he learned from his mistakes. Not wanting cheap, tacky tourist attractions and hotels sprouting up in the immediate vicinity of his new park in Florida, he started buying up land in central Florida during the mid-1960s. When the story behind the purchases finally leaked out in 1965, Walt was ready to make the formal announcement of his plans. Although he died the next year, in 1966, his brother Roy carried on and opened up the Magic Kingdom, two resort hotels, and a campground in 1971. Although the park was popular, growth in attendance stagnated. When Epcot opened in 1982 the park's future was still not very bright.

That changed beginning in 1984, when Michael Eisner took charge of the Disney Company. And the growth in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s has made Orlando one of the vacation capitals of the entire world. The third theme park, Disney--MGM Studios, opened in 1989, and the fourth, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998. Today hotels and villa complexes cover more than 2,500 acres alone. After that, the 98-acre Magic Kingdom seems a drop in the bucket.

A bewildering array of options awaits you in Walt Disney World. There are several ticketing options---from single-day tickets to multi-park, multi-day passes. Some allow you to hop between parks on the same day; others don't, so keep that in mind when making your plans. And prices change several times a year.

Atlanta was first named Terminus, for its location was the end of a railroad line. Founded in 1837, it was incorporated as Marthasville in 1843 and became Atlanta in 1845. Even before the Civil War it was a railroad and marketing hub. Then came the city's siege and destruction by the Union army in 1864, after which practically 90 percent of the city had to be rebuilt. Very little of the old town remains. After the Civil War, Atlanta recovered quickly, primarily because of the completion of several rail lines that put the struggling town in the center of a rapidly expanding transportation network. Because of its rapid rise, Atlanta was named the capital of Georgia in 1868. Today, with a metropolitan population of nearly 3 million, Atlanta and its environs constitute by far the largest city in the Southeast, home to many leading American corporations---among them Coca-Cola and CNN---as well as 29 colleges and universities.

Atlanta's character has evolved from a mix of peoples: Transplanted Northerners and people from elsewhere account for 50 percent of the population and have undeniably affected the mood and character of the city. Irish immigrants had a major role in the city's early history, along with Germans and Austrians; the Hungarian-born Rich brothers founded Atlanta's principal department store. In the past two decades, Atlanta has seen spirited growth in its Asian and Latin-American communities. Atlanta's Asian-American and Latino citizens can point with pride to their economic and civic accomplishments. Their restaurants, shops, and institutions have become part of the city's texture.

For more than four decades, Atlanta has been linked to the civil rights movement. Among the many accomplishments of Atlanta's African-American community is the Nobel Peace Prize that Martin Luther King, Jr., won in 1964. Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, continues to operate the King Center, which she founded after her husband's assassination in 1968. In 1972 Andrew Young was elected the first black congressman from the South since Reconstruction.

The traditional and romantic image of the South, with lacy moss dangling from tree limbs, thick, sugary Southern drawls, a leisurely pace, and luxurious antebellum mansions, is rarely seen here. Even before the Civil War, the columned house was a rarity. The frenetic pace of building that characterized the period after the Civil War has continued unabated. Still viewed by die-hard Southerners as the heart of the Old Confederacy, Atlanta has become the best example of the New South, a fast-paced modern city proud of its heritage.

Savannah is Georgia's oldest city and also its third largest, following Atlanta and Columbus. Founded in 1733 when James Oglethorpe arrived with 120 settlers, the town began growing immediately. By the early days of the Revolutionary War Savannah was a thriving port city, a fact not overlooked by the British, who occupied it in December 1778. Despite a valiant American effort to regain the strategic port in 1779, Savannah remained in British hands until its liberation by General Anthony Wayne's troops in 1782. Savannah was Georgia's first state capital, a role it held from 1782 to 1785.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Confederate troops seized Union-held Fort Pulaski. One year later, the superior firepower of Union artillery was more than Confederate defenders could resist, and the fort was retaken by the U.S. Army and was used as a Union hospital. In December 1864, General William T. Sherman marched on Savannah and, following intense fighting, took the city. A jubilant Sherman wired President Abraham Lincoln, advising the chief executive that Savannah was being given to him as a Christmas present.

Today, Savannah is one of the "crown jewel" cities of America's eastern seaboard. A vigorous and well-organized historic zoning effort has preserved the inner town much as it was in the days before and immediately following the Civil War. The city boasts 1,400 restored or reconstructed buildings dating from the time of its founding. Warehouses still line the banks of the Savannah River upon which oceangoing vessels haul cargo upstream for unloading.

Iowa's capital city is at the fork of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. The Native Americans called the Des Moines river "Moingonia," meaning "river of the mounds." French explorers who traveled through the area translated the name to "La Riviere des Moines." A great source of irritation for Iowans is the mispronunciation of Des Moines (you don't pronounce either "s"). In 1857, with Iowa's population moving west, centrally located Des Moines succeeded Iowa City as the state's capital. Today the city is home to 200,000, nearly 60 insurance companies (making it the third-largest insurance center in the world), the highly respected Des Moines Register, an unusual 3 1/2 - mi downtown skywalk system, and several fine museums and galleries. Outside Iowa, Des Moines may be best known for the attention it receives during the presidential caucuses every four years.

From a distance, Boise looks like a dreamy desert oasis rising above the seemingly endless sagebrush flats of the Boise Basin. The welcoming patch of green attracted Captain B.L.E. Bonneville and his party of French trappers as they trudged across the barren Snake River Plain in 1833, causing them to exclaim, "Les bois! Les bois!" ("Trees!"). The French name stuck, though it is now pronounced boy-see.

Today the city still looks more like a tuft of dense forest than a bustling metropolitan center. The largest of Idaho's cities, Boise still numbers only a modest 125,000 souls. Although it's the state capital, Boise is an easygoing city where few high-rises manage to tower above the dense canopy. The shimmering blue Boise River rushes through the heart of downtown and gives the city an unspoiled and almost wild feel. Boise nestles at the eastern edge of a broad valley beneath 8,000-ft peaks. Across the valley, roughly 30 mi from downtown, rise still more mountains at the Oregon state line.

A year after Bonneville's group discovered the riverside oasis, the Hudson Bay Company, a British fur-trading enterprise, constructed a fort near the mouth of the Boise River. By the 1840s, pioneers were steering Conestogas along the Oregon Trail across southern Idaho and through what is now downtown Boise. The longest of the pioneer roads, the 2,020-mi Oregon Trail, joined the state of Missouri with Oregon. The trail's deep ruts can still be seen in spots along its route through Idaho.

Gold-rush trails leading to the Boise Basin and Owyhee mines also brought settlement to the Boise area. But it was not until 1863 that Boise actually became a town. With an endless stream of pioneers passing through the Oregon Trail and swarms of miners, the U.S. military decided to build a fort to protect the new settlers in the region. Construction on Fort Boise was begun, and within a year, when the regional legislature held its second session in Lewiston, Montana, Boise was incorporated and named the capital of the Idaho Territory. Although gold fever gripped Boise and the town had grown to 1,658 by 1864, five years later it had shrunk back to just under 1,000. It resumed its growth in the 1870s, and by 1887, three years before Idaho became a state, it had a functioning streetcar system.

Like that of most Western frontier towns, Boise's growth was spurred by a succession of transportation links, including the railroad. A branch of the Oregon Short Line reached Boise in 1887. While the Boise Basin was becoming a booming rail center, irrigation was turning stretches of the once barren valley into lush farmland. By 1910, after construction of a dam and a canal, Ada County had 1,500 irrigated farms. When the Arrowrock Dam on the Middle Fork of the Boise River was completed in 1930, it was the tallest dam in the world. Today, it is included in a major recreation area south of Boise surrounding Lucky Peak and Arrowrock reservoirs.

Beginning in the late 1800s, another wave of immigrants hit Boise, this time Basques from the western Pyrenees. Basques are primarily sheepherders, and in southwestern Idaho they found a terrain and climate similar to those of their homeland. Their immigration peaked in the 1930s, but still today the Snake River Plain has the largest concentration of Basques in the United States, many of them carrying on the sheepherding traditions of their forefathers. Colorful Basque traditions are displayed at a cultural center in Boise and in annual Basque festivals held in several towns in south-central and southwestern Idaho.

Boise's governmental center is anchored by the stunning State Capitol, which was modeled after the U.S. Capitol and built of native sandstone between 1905 and 1912. A soaring 208-ft dome and polished marble columns inside grace the structure. For all the presence of state government and the high-tech giants Micron Electronics, Micron Technology, and Hewlett-Packard, Boise is still a major agricultural center, and as such is the home of the supermarket giant Albertson's and J.R. Simplot Co., one of the world's foremost processors of food, most notably potatoes. With a robust economy based on such diverse industries, Boise has the polish of a modern city but still manages to be a modest and unassuming town with an easygoing manner.

With the Boise River surging through the center of town and thousands of acres of national forest, lakes, and rugged mountain wilderness within an hour's drive, Boise is known for its outdoor sports and recreation opportunities. Just outside the city limits there are dozens of state and federal recreation properties and nature preserves, ranging from Bruneau Dunes State Park to the vast Boise National Forest. Roughly 40 mi southwest, the Snake River and its tributaries offer all manner of water sports.

With all of this going for it, it is no wonder that Boise is one of the Northwest's upstart cities. The media have not failed to recognize its virtues. Money magazine touted the City of Trees as "the fourth-best place to live in America." USA Today ranked Boise among the six "cities of the '90s." Yet there are those who think enough is enough. Reporter Marianne Flagg of the Idaho Statesman appealed to her media colleagues in 1992 to "please stop writing about us," complaining that "it's tough to be the object of so much swooning, so much rosy wooing."

The skyline of Jacksonville seems to change almost every day. With a population of over 1 million and an increasing role as a center for business, culture, technology, and medicine---not to mention its role as a major port city and site of military bases---all roads seem to lead here. Since its name often appears on various lists of the best places to live in the U.S., more and more people are following those roads.

Jacksonville's history dates back to 1562, when the area was first settled by a small group of French Huguenots. Their settlement, named Fort Caroline, was on the banks of the St. Johns River. In 1821, the area was renamed for General Andrew Jackson, the first military governor of Florida and the seventh President of the United States.

The St. Johns River winds through the downtown area, and strolling along the Riverwalk is a favorite local pastime and also a great way for visitors to get a feel for the city. Jacksonville Landing has many good restaurants and entertainment venues, as well as a great selection of shops. Jacksonville Beach, 20 miles to the east, is a nice place to catch a sunrise.

Humorist Will Rogers quipped that Indianapolis was "the only farm I've ever seen with a monument in the center." The capital city and its most recognizable landmark, the 284-ft Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, sit in the very center of the state surrounded by a pancake-flat checkerboard of fields. Only 4 years after attaining statehood, Indiana's General Assembly decided that the first capital, Corydon, was inconvenient. They chose instead a spot roughly at the geographical center of the state, where Fall Creek empties into the wide and lazy west fork of the White River. The move was quickly approved, and the capital city traces its beginnings to the arrival of four horse-drawn wagons piled high with the state archives and a time-worn set of leather-bound law books. While the legislators were quick to approve the placement of the capital, they wrangled for days over a proper name. Despite complaints that the name was too hard to pronounce, they finally agreed on affixing "polis," the Greek word for city, to the state's name. Natives refer to the city casually as "Indy."

Alexander Ralston, a surveyor for Washington, D.C., designer Pierre Charles L'Enfant, was hired to design and plan the city. He envisioned an orderly layout that contained the city within a square mile. Ralston overlaid a grid of roadways and parcels of land with a circle at the center and diagonal streets radiating in four directions. Since then, the Circle City has seen a steady influx of settlers, business, and industry. Ever since the early days, transportation arteries have figured prominently in the city's lifeblood. In the 1820s the National Road (now U.S. 40), and a decade later the Central Canal, carried a steady stream of people and goods. Later, the railroads laid track through the city and with the advent of the interstate highway system, Indianapolis was crisscrossed with super slabs, more than in any other city in the nation. Over the years, Ralston's orderly plan served the city well, and it has been busy filling in the triangles and squares with sleek yet unimposing high-rises and shady neighborhoods of gracious older homes. The metropolitan area now extends well beyond the original square mile, incorporating the six adjacent counties.

Since its beginning, the city's small-town character has brought mixed blessings. For years, the modest city wore the unbecoming labels "India-no-place" and "Naptown." Although Indianapolis has pursued a steady course of growth over the years, becoming the nation's 13th-largest city, until roughly 30 years ago it was truly little more than an oversized small town.

The catalyst for the city's makeover was the decision in 1970 to combine the governments of Indianapolis and Marion County. The move doubled the population to 710,000 and increased the municipality's eligibility for federal money. They then forged a public--private partnership with local business and industry leaders that called for investing $3 billion dollars in downtown Indianapolis by the mid-1990s.

The city was soon able to claim the title "Amateur Sports Capital of the World," having built world-class sports venues such as the track and field stadium and the natatorium on the combined campuses of Indiana and Purdue Universities. The headquarters of national amateur sports federations governing rowing, track and field, and gymnastics were relocated to the city.

The 1970s and the 1980s brought investments in bricks and mortar downtown with construction of a domed stadium for the newly acquired National Football League team the Colts, along with entertainment and recreation facilities. Also in the 1980s, Indianapolis was crowned "Cinderella City" by Newsweek and Travel Holiday, and began the next phase, filling in the downtown grid with museums, performance halls, and stretches of spruced-up green. Today, a zoo, several major museums and other cultural organizations, a symphony hall, and a repertory theater are all downtown, along with ample greenery. The White River State Park corridor along the White River strings together several sports and cultural attractions, including the Canal Walk, a linear park along a 10 1/2 - block remnant of the old Central Canal. By the early 1990s, the pace of development slowed and many people wondered whether the massive craters that dotted downtown would ever be filled in. Then, in fall 1995, Indianapolis unveiled Circle Centre, a mall full of shops and restaurants hidden cleverly behind the facades of staid, old, onetime office buildings and abandoned department stores. Today, the emphasis is on maintaining the city's sturdy grid framework while strategically adding new cultural and recreational facilities.

Louisville is the state's largest city, founded at the Falls of the Ohio in 1778 by Gen. George Rogers Clark. The city was named in honor of Louis XVI of France and that country's aid to the American Colonies during the Revolutionary War. Long a commercial center due to its location on the Ohio River, the city today is a center of health care and medical research (headquartered at the University of Louisville), an international air hub for United Parcel Service, and home of the largest truck-manufacturing plant in the western hemisphere, run by the Ford Motor Company. Historic residential districts include the Victorian Old Louisville, just south of downtown, and the Edwardian Cherokee Triangle to the east. Louisville's Main Street has the largest collection of cast-iron fronted buildings in the United States outside of New York City.

Attractions include historic Churchill Downs race course, home of the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Derby Museum; the Belle of Louisville paddle-wheel steamboat, which takes passengers on river excursions; the Louisville Slugger Museum attached to Hillerich and Bradsby Company, where the famous baseball bats are made; a waterfront walk stretching along 16 mi of the Ohio River; a network of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted; and historic homes, including Farmington (designed by Thomas Jefferson) and Locust Grove (last home of Gen. George Rogers Clark). Money is currently being raised for a museum dedicated to the life of Louisville's celebrity native, boxer Muhammad Ali. Cave Hill Cemetery, just east of downtown, is a national arboretum. A portion of its 300 acres contains the only federally-funded military cemetery in the country with both Union and Confederate graves, a reflection of Kentucky's position as a border state during the war. Reached from the Indiana shore, but in the river (so still in Kentucky), is the largest exposed Devonian fossil bed in the world, at the Falls of the Ohio.

A rich arts scene is led by the Louisville Orchestra, which gained international prominence in the 1950s for commissioning, performing, and recording works by 20th-century composers. Actors Theatre of Louisville, home of the Humana Festival of New American Plays, which has spawned several Broadway and Pulitzer Prize-winning productions is also at home in Louisville. The city also has resident professional opera, ballet, and children's theater companies. The International Bluegrass Festival is now held in the city each year.

Modern Boston today has a population of approximately 500,000 and sprawls around the tiny peninsula upon which it was founded in 1630. Its English Puritan founders were attracted to the land because it was originally surrounded on nearly all sides by water, making it easy to defend. A deepwater harbor at its front door and a river at its back also made the town a natural choice for the Colonial capital, since 17th-century transportation and communication were largely dependent on boats. For its first 150 years, Boston was the leading Colonial port in North America, its wharves crowded with sailing vessels bound to and from every continent on the globe. Although other neighbors along the Eastern Seaboard outgrew Boston by the end of the 18th century, the city continued to amass great wealth with maritime trade throughout the 1800s, and some of the world's finest shipbuilders continued to ply their craft in Boston until well after World War II. Now that the city's economy has shifted from manufacturing to high-tech, high finance, and higher education, the revitalized piers bustle with private yachts and harbor cruise boats, while seaport warehouses find new life as apartments and offices.

Though it's the 13th largest city in the country---and one that traces its history back to the early 1700s---Baltimore is often overshadowed by Washington, DC and Philadelphia. In fact, it has experienced an incredible rebirth over the past 20 years, redeveloped its waterfront and sports facilities, and become an underrated yet intriguing destination with a down-to-earth personality.

America's Oldest Game box - goes near BaltimoreBeacons over the Bay box - goes near BaltimoreBounty of the Bay box - goes near BaltimoreThe Inner Harbor is an ideal starting point to explore Baltimore, often called "Charm City." Nowhere else is the city's success more evident than around the Inner Harbor, where new museums, restaurants, stores, and hotels are under construction almost all the time. The newer structures complement already well-known establishments such as the wonderful National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center, and the Gallery at Harborplace. From the harbor, water taxis give great skyline views and access to historic landmarks and neighborhoods, including the lively, sometimes boisterous waterfront neighborhood of Fells Point.

Away from the waterfront, Baltimore is an amalgam of distinct neighborhoods that better tell the city's history than the sparkling Inner Harbor. There are neighborhoods of white marble steps, row houses, tree-shaded streets, and impressive history and architecture. Mount Vernon, for example, is often called one of the nation's most beautiful neighborhoods because of its distinctive 19th-century architecture and the impressive 178-ft Washington Monument. The city's elite once lived here; today, Mount Vernon is a cultural mecca with formidable museums, churches, and the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Baltimore has its roots in Maryland's farming past. With its natural harbor on the Chesapeake Bay, the town evolved to become a convenient port for farmers to ship their produce overseas. Baltimore quickly became a seafaring and trading community. Its proximity to the nation's capital, too, assured Baltimore a colorful role in American history. During the War of 1812, the British, having burned Washington, DC, attacked Baltimore by land and sea. On the water, they were held off by the guns of Fort McHenry. The 25-hour bombardment of the city inspired Francis Scott Key, a Maryland lawyer who was detained aboard a ship after obtaining the release of a friend, to write a poem that eventually became the national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred on the streets of Baltimore. When the 700-member 6th Massachusetts Regiment arrived at President Street Station and began marching along Pratt Street to catch a train at another station, a mob of Southern sympathizers began throwing stones. Nine civilians and three soldiers died in the ensuing fight.

The riches of the Chesapeake Bay helped the city to flourish in the late 1800s, with canning industries that preserved and shipped goods to other parts of the country. Shipbuilding and transportation were viable industries at this time, and the city was an active port of entry for European immigrants and rural residents of the upper South.

Like other cities, Baltimore suffered "suburban flight" in the 1960s, but a renaissance began in the 1970s with building efforts downtown and at the Inner Harbor. The rejuvenation continues today with the opening of newer museums, like Port Discovery, the Baltimore children's museum, which opened in December 1998; the restoration of the city's old Power Plant into a sports and entertainment complex; the expansion of the Baltimore Convention Center; and the opening of a stadium for Baltimore's pro football team, the aptly named Ravens. Away from the Inner Harbor, neighborhoods like Fells Point, Federal Hill, Canton, Mount Vernon, Mount Royal, Little Italy, and Roland Park continue to flourish.

Ever since rusticators have been rusticating, this heavily trafficked tourist town has been a hot spot. Works by painters from the Hudson River School are credited with first attracting visitors in the mid-19th century. As the area's popularity grew, hotels and resorts began to pop up, and soon the nation's elite were building summer "cottages" here. Among those was John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who was responsible for the 57-mi of carriage roads constructed in Acadia National Park in the early 1900s. In 1947 a great fire devastated much of the island, but the region quickly bounced back, as evidenced by the numerous shops, inns, restaurants, excursions, amusements---and guests---in today's Bar Harbor. The area offers so many attractions and activities, you could stay here all summer and never run out of things to do. Fall is a lovely, less-peopled season for a visit.

Maine's largest city, on Casco Bay, offers up the best of many worlds. More large small town than city, Portland has been enjoying a revitalization over the past years. Home to a well-respected art museum, a symphony, a first-rate concert hall, numerous theater groups, a beautifully designed 28-store public market, and a ballpark---along with myriad nearby outdoor spaces---Portland distinguishes itself as the most happening town north of Boston.

The first European settlers arrived in the area in 1628, and the first home built on Machigonne (the Native American name for the neck that juts out into Casco Bay) went up in 1632. In 1658, Massachusetts commissioners renamed the greater Portland area Falmouth. Mills went up and families settled, living peaceably with the natives, until 1675, when King Philip, sachem of the Wampanoag tribe, declared war on the colonists. Nearly a century of bloody battles followed. A brief peace followed, bringing back settlers, creating a more compact village. When the second Indian War broke out, there were between 600 and 700 people living in Falmouth. Not long after, Falmouth was completely wiped out. In 1727, peace returned, and the colony got back to the business of colonizing. Fishing and lumbering were the prime occupations, and shortly thereafter shipbuilding followed. Falmouth began to prosper. Then troubles with England brewed up. After the War for Independence, the Neck separated from the rest of Falmouth in 1786 and took on the name Portland. In 1820, Maine was admitted into the Union, and Portland served as its first capital.

As the nation grew, so did demand for lumber and ships, and Portland rode the wave, becoming an important railway terminus. Then, shortly after the Civil War, devastation struck once again. The Great Fire of 1866 (started by a firecracker) leveled most of the city, but residents quickly rebuilt, earning once and for all Portland's motto, resurgam (I shall rise again). Evidence of this building boom can be seen in the proliferation of Victorian buildings that line the city streets.

Portland continued to flourish until after World War II, when it experienced a downswing. But in the early 1970s some enterprising individuals---largely artists and craftsmen---began taking up space and opening shops in the derelict Old Port, thus breathing new life into the city.

Today the Old Port is a booming commercial area, with tony shops, restaurants, and boutiques attracting year-round visitors. Congress Street, Portland's main artery and pre--Old Port heart of in-town Portland, has experienced its own recent resurgence. Not long ago, the street was lined with vacant storefronts. The relocation of Maine College of Art into a vacant department store in the center of town, the formation of an arts district, and the influx of businesses has revitalized this section of town.

The city can basically be broken into two sections: the peninsula and the 'burbs. While there are attractive residential areas on the other side of Interstate 295, which cuts the city in half, most of the action takes place on the peninsula. Peninsulites admit Portland extends beyond the highway---but only grudgingly. The highlights of the peninsula are:

Few realize that Detroit is one of the Midwest's oldest cities. Founded in 1701 as "la Ville d'Etroit"---the city at the straits---it was once a strategic Native American and French trading post. In the mid-19th century the city was likened to Paris because of its scenic parks and beautiful architecture, but soon evolved into the modern Motor City, the city that put the world on wheels.

With the growth of the auto industry, Detroit and its suburbs spread out across an ever-larger geographical area, eventually becoming one of the country's largest cities. While Motown and Motor City are the nicknames that stick in people's minds, Detroit is also among the world's busiest inland ports, a major steel producer, and a leader in the production of office equipment, paint, salt, garden seeds, and pharmaceuticals. The Detroit River is linked by 25 steamship companies to more than 40 countries; vessels ranging from ocean-going freighters to private yachts dock in the city's protected harbor.

A multicultural city known for high hopes and hard work, Detroit has world-class museums, theaters, and galleries, a well-run park system, extensive recreational and sports facilities, and lively ethnic neighborhoods full of friendly people and good restaurants. Those who visit the city for the first time are pleasantly surprised, and tend to echo the Convention and Visitors Bureau's slogan: "It's a Good Time in Detroit."

The name Minneapolis combines the Dakota word for water (minne) with the Greek word for city (polis). Put them together and you get a very accurate description of this Midwestern metropolis. Eighteen lakes lie within the city, and the Mississippi River runs through it.

The Dakota people lived in this area for centuries before the arrival of white explorers. In 1680, a Catholic missionary named Father Louis Hennepin passed a waterfall during an expedition up the Mississippi River and named it St. Anthony Falls. White settlement did not begin in earnest for another 140 years, when Fort Snelling was constructed near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Soon soldiers from the fort built a sawmill and flour mill at Father Hennepin's waterfall. The village of St. Anthony grew up on the river's east bank. Minneapolis emerged on the west side. In 1872, the two towns united to form one city.

St. Anthony Falls proved to be the perfect place to process Minnesota grain. Large mills were built along the river, spawning several companies that still exist, including Pillsbury, General Mills, and Cargill. Today, Minneapolis remains an agricultural powerhouse, but its economy is well diversified. Manufacturing, transportation, computer technology, and banking are among the major industries here.

The revitalized downtown area is home to many fine stores, more than 30 theaters, two world-class art museums, and three professional sports teams. Much of downtown is connected by a second-story skyway system that helps keep the city running even on the coldest days. With an average temperature of 18 degrees F in December, 12 degrees F in January, and 18 degrees F again in February, the opportunity to stay indoors can be a definite plus.

You wouldn't guess it, looking at St. Paul today, but Minnesota's capital city began as a squatter's camp. Its first resident was a one-eyed moonshiner named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, who had twice run afoul of the authorities at nearby Fort Snelling. In the late 1830s, Parrant set up a saloon and shack in a muddy swamp down-river from the fort, and within no time his little settlement had become a popular stopping point for rivermen and settlers. People called the area Pig's Eye Landing until some civic-minded settlers decided to name their town after a little log church that a missionary had built. They called it St. Paul.

In 1847, St. Paul became the capital of the new Minnesota territory. The effect on the village was profound: within three weeks, it doubled in size. Settlers began streaming in, carried to the new capital on steamboats.

At first, fur trading was the big local business. Then it was lumber. Eventually, the railroads arrived and Minnesota's capital became a center of rail commerce. St. Paul prospered and grew. Grand mansions, a majestic Roman Catholic cathedral, river-spanning bridges, and other architectural marvels arose within a short distance of the place where Pig's Eye Parrant had once set up shop. Today you'll find that many of those architectural landmarks have survived in remarkably good condition. They and other attractions such as the Native American burial grounds overlooking the Mississippi River make St. Paul a fascinating place to visit.

New Orleans fur trader Pierre Laclede selected an ideal location for the new settlement of St. Louis in 1764 in what had just become Spanish Colonial territory. Positioned as it was where the Missouri River met the Mississippi, the young St. Louis quickly surpassed the growth of its downstream neighbor, Ste. Genevieve.

St. Louis is known as the Gateway to the West and certainly that was true for Lewis and Clark. It was here that they provisioned their famous expedition. And in the years that followed St. Louis became a manufacturing center for wagons, guns, blankets, saddles, and everything the pioneer would need on a journey west. By 1860, the population was more than 160,000. Because of its size and location, St. Louis became a center for government offices and financial trade. The 1904 World's Fair brought increasing growth and global diversification to the St. Louis marketplace.

The Roman Catholic Church dominated the religious life of early St. Louis, and remains a powerful voice in the city's and state's religious, social, and political debates. The city is now also home to such corporations as Anheuser-Busch and McDonnell Douglas. The city's educational institutions, including Washington University and St. Louis University, are global leaders in scientific and social research. Forest Park's Muni Opera is the largest open-air theater in the nation, and the St. Louis Art Museum is world renowned.

St. Louis has many faces, but the city is indisputably a baseball town. Since the St. Louis Browns placed first in the major leagues in 1885, and the Cardinals won their first World Series title in 1926, fanatic love of their team has not diminished in the people of this city. Other sports come and go in this town, but St. Louisans remain loyal to their baseball.

Mississippians once joked that the state's three largest cities were Memphis, Mobile, and New Orleans, but since the 1940s Jackson has grown from a small government town to a metropolis with a population of 400,000. The Jackson metro area represents the state's greatest concentration of wealth, and construction is booming in surrounding suburbs.

There are a surprisingly large number of cultural attractions for a city this size, ranging from Civil War reenactments to the International Ballet Competition (Jackson is the only U.S. city to host this event). In addition to the expected Confederate shrines, there are African-American and Jewish historic sites and a wide array of high-quality museums and stores, restaurants and bars. The city also has one of the state's most beautiful parks, LeFleur's Bluff. Although Jackson is a friendly town, you should be aware that Jackson ranks high nationally in crime statistics.

Originally named LeFleur's Bluff after a French trading post on the Pearl River, Jackson was incorporated as the capital in 1821; it was burned several times during the Civil War (local residents called it "Chimneyville" because of the many chimneys left standing), and most of the surviving antebellum homes were torn down in the 1960s. Noteworthy architectural survivors include the Governor's Mansion, City Hall, the Old Capitol and two pre--Civil War tour homes. There are also several fine examples of 20th-century architecture and some exceptionally pretty residential areas. Among the historic sites are several from the Civil Rights era, when Jackson was at the vanguard of divisive social change.

Jackson has its requisite commercial strips, the most popular being County Line Roa