Located on one of the tallest hills in Vicksburg, the court house was built in 1858, primarily with slave labor.
During the Civil War, the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy was flown from the top of the building. During the seige of Vicksburg, Union artillery was unable to shell the building because Union prisoners were held on the second floor of the building. This is one of the reasons the courthouse survived the war.
In 1948 the courthouse became a museum and contains thousands of artifacts pertaining to Vicksburg history.