[4] Previously inhabited by the Choctaw Native Americans, the area now called Meridian was obtained by the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 during the period of Indian removal.

[8] During the Battle of Meridian in 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led troops into the city, destroying the railroads in every direction, as well as an arsenal and immense storehouses;[12] his forces burned many of the buildings to the ground.

[5] Race relations were tense during the Reconstruction era, as whites resisted freedmen being allowed to choose their labor, vote, and have freedom of movement.

With escapism becoming popular in the culture during the depth of the Depression, the S. H. Kress & Co. building, built to "provide luxury to the common man,"[18] opened in downtown Meridian, as did the Temple Theater, which was first used as a movie house.

[18] James Chaney and other local residents, along with Michael Schwerner, his wife Rita, and Andrew Goodman, volunteers from New York City, worked to create a community center.

Seven Klansmen, including a deputy sheriff, were convicted by an all-white jury in the federal courthouse in Meridian of "depriving the victims of their civil rights".

[23] Starting in the 1960s and following the construction of highways that made commuting easier, residents began to move away from downtown in favor of new housing subdivisions to the north.

[38] The Threefoot Preservation Society was formed in 2013 to raise public awareness and support for the building's renovation, featuring tours of the first floor and anniversary events.

[41] The area surrounding the city is covered with oak and pine forests, and its topography consists of clay hills and the bottom lands of the head waters of the Chickasawhay River.

Severe thunderstorms – which can produce damaging winds and/or large hail in addition to the usual hazards of lightning and heavy rain – occasionally occur.

[49] The population of Meridian and its surrounds is fairly observant, with 65.2% of Lauderdale County affiliated with some type of religious congregation, compared to the national average of 50.2%.

[65] Also, the shopping district on North Hills Street has continued to expand, and in March 2007, additional retail and office space was opened near the Highway 19 Walmart Supercenter.

Other businesses in the area include Avery Dennison, Structural Steel Services, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Tower Automotive, and Teikuro Corporation.

MCA operates its Community Art Grants program, the annual Threefoot Festival, several workshops, and other special events each year.

During its operation the opera house hosted many famous artists and works, the first being a German company's rendition of Johann Strauss II's "The Gypsy Baron".

[81] The opera house's renovation was completed in September 2006 under the new name "Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts."

[69] Meridian is considered an architectural treasure trove being one of the USA's most intact cities from the end of the nineteenth and start of the twentieth centuries.

Architecture students from around the nation and Canada are known to visit Meridian in groups as part of their coursework due to numerous structures in the city having been designed by noted architects.

The only home in the US south designed by noted Canadian born architect Louis S. Curtiss, famous for inventing the glass curtain wall skyscraper, is extant on Highland Park.

[91] The MAEC plans to add many more Mississippi-born stars to the Walk of Fame; names mentioned include Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Buffett, Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, and others.

[93] Today, seating 1576 persons, the Temple is used year-round for area events, live stage shows, plays, concerts, Hamasa Shrine functions, and public screenings of classic movies.

[94] Highland Park houses a Jimmie Rodgers museum which displays the original guitar of "The Singing Brakeman" and other memorabilia of his life and career, as well as railroad equipment from the steam-engine era.

The western and southeastern portions of the city lie in the 33rd State Senate District and seats Videt Carmichael (Republican party).

[127] On the national level, the city is located in Mississippi's 3rd congressional district, represented by Michael Guest (Republican party), who has been in office since 2019.

The record they established in their 27 days aloft, totaling 653 hours and 34 minutes, attracted enough publicity and funds to the city to keep the airport running.

U.S. Highway 80 Runs west through Jackson, Mississippi, to Dallas, Texas, and east through Demopolis, Alabama, all the way to Tybee Island, Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean.

A group of women had formed the Fortnightly Book and Magazine Club in the 1880s and began raising money to build a library for the city.

With wide support for the library, the club enlisted Israel Marks, a city leader, to approach the national philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for funding assistance.

[145] The two libraries served the city until 1967, when the institutions became integrated because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, combined their collections, and moved all materials to their current location.

"[202] Cullen Bohannon, the protagonist of the AMC series Hell on Wheels, hails from Meridian, Mississippi, where he is a tobacco farmer and later a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War.