Mississippi’s cotton fields invented the blues — and its shipyards build the Navy’s fleet
- Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and B.B. King all came up in the Delta
- Nearly 200 official Mississippi Blues Trail markers
- One Pascagoula shipyard builds close to 70% of the Navy’s surface warships
- The Magnolia State, "Birthplace of America’s Music"
How Mississippi’s digital economy grew
Dockery Farms is founded
A 10,000-acre Sunflower County cotton plantation where Charley Patton, later called "the Father of the Delta Blues," develops the Delta style.
The Mississippi Delta as the birthplace of the blues
Dockery Farms is where Charley Patton, taught by musician Henry Sloan, forged what became Delta blues — a direct lineage runs from Patton to Son House to both Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson, born in Hazlehurst in 1911, recorded his entire 29-song discography in two sessions before dying in 1938 at 27; his famous "crossroads" legend actually originated with an unrelated musician, Tommy Johnson, and was only attached to Robert Johnson decades later. B.B. King, born near Itta Bena in 1925, carried the sound into the modern era. It all converges at Clarksdale’s Crossroads of Highways 61 and 49, and institutionally at the Mississippi Blues Trail, which today counts nearly 200 markers.
Nearly 70% of the Navy’s surface fleet, from one Mississippi shipyard
Ingalls Shipbuilding, founded in Pascagoula in 1938, is the Navy’s sole builder of San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks and also builds Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, America-class amphibious assault ships and Coast Guard cutters — together nearly 70% of the Navy’s entire surface warship fleet. It employs more than 11,000 people, making it Mississippi’s largest manufacturing and private employer.
How Mississippi businesses buy websites
The blues trail and the shipyard draw the attention, but most of Mississippi’s businesses are the trades and shops serving Jackson, the Gulf Coast, and Delta towns across the rest of the state.
Trades and home services
Mississippi’s regions differ a lot — be specific about which towns and counties you actually serve.
Tourism and hospitality
Blues tourism brings real visitors to Delta towns — a clear, findable site matters here.
Agriculture and B2B services
Suppliers to the state’s farming and shipbuilding economies benefit from being specific about what they handle.
How well do you know Mississippi’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
Mississippi quiz · 1 of 3
What Mississippi plantation is widely credited as the birthplace of Delta blues?
Why FastSites works here
A state that turned cotton fields into the birthplace of American music understands the value of something simple, honest and built well. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same instinct for a small business.