Catfish Row Museum

The Christian and Brough Building went up in 1905 on Washington Street in downtown Vicksburg. It spent decades as the Monte Carlo Club, a blues and R&B venue that ran through the 1970s and 1980s. Now it houses a museum that takes on the part of the city's story most other institutions skip. Vicksburg's museum landscape tilts heavily toward the Civil War — the 1863 siege that became a turning point in the conflict. The Catfish Row Museum doesn't. It focuses on Vicksburg's artistic, literary, and culinary history, and it highlights African American and minority contributions to the city's culture. In a city where the population is now majority African American and where the historical record has often centered on military catastrophe, the museum holds the thread of what people built, performed, and cooked. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's open Monday through Saturday. Small admission fee. Current hours are posted at visitvicksburg.com.