It was created by the Mississippi Legislature on February 28, 1878, to fulfill the mission of offering training in "agriculture, horticulture and the mechanical arts ... without excluding other scientific and classical studies, including military tactics."

The university was desegregated in July 1965, when Richard E. Holmes, a graduate of Henderson High School in Starkville, became the first African-American student to enroll.

The University Honors Program was founded in 1968 to provide more rigorous course curricula for academically talented students and support guest lecture series, forums, and distinguished external scholarships.

[20] In March 2009, Mississippi State announced the conclusion of the university's seven-year capital campaign, with more than $462 million received in private gifts and pledges.

[21] On March 24, 2012, a 21-year-old student at the university named John Sanderson was shot twice in the torso and killed inside the Evans Hall Dormitory on campus by a small caliber handgun.

[22][23] Three men, Mason Perry Jones, Trent DeUndra Crump, and Duntae Harvey, were captured in connection with the slaying.

[26] Mississippi State's campus is centered on the main quadrangle, called the Drill Field due to its heavy use by the Corps of Cadets prior to the end of World War II.

Old Main was the original dormitory, west of Lee Hall; it burned in a tragic fire, and was replaced by the Colvard Student Union.

At the far west of campus, one finds first the fraternity and sorority houses, and beyond them the Cotton District and downtown Starkville, Mississippi.

This center, established in November 1999, houses the collections of US Senator John C. Stennis and Congressman G. V. Montgomery, nicknamed "Sonny".

The center also provides research materials and information on individual US Senators and Representatives, the US Congress, and politics at all levels of government.

[33] Among the library's premier collections is that of internationally known author John Grisham, an MSU alumnus who donated his papers to the university in 1989.

The multi-day event features seminars, tours of the Templeton Music Museum, and concerts by ragtime and jazz musicians.

This resulted in improved traffic flow and ample new green space for leisure activities and events, including football tailgating.

Anchored by Davis Wade Stadium, Barnes & Noble Bookstore and the University Welcome Center, the Junction is the focal point of a pedestrian-friendly central campus and a significant gathering place for students, alumni and visitors.

[46] The university has 160 buildings, and the grounds comprise about 4,200 acres (17 km2), including farms, pastures, and woodlands of the Experiment Station.

Prior to WMSV, Mississippi State had a student-run radio station, WMSB, which went off the air permanently at the end of the spring semester of 1986.

WMSB was begun in the fall semester of 1971 in a freshman dorm room on the third floor of Critz Hall, utilizing an FM stereo transmitter that was designed and built as a high school science fair project by one of the station's founders.

Funding was approved, the low-power RCA FM transmitter was ordered and the call letters WMSB were issued by the FCC.

During the spring semester the Old Main Music Festival takes place, it is also free to the public, and is held on the Mississippi State Campus.

[51] The city of Starkville and the Mississippi State campus have been a tour stop for many artists,[52] including a visit in 1965 by Johnny Cash.

The Diamond Dogs play home games at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium, which holds the NCAA record for the largest single-game on-campus baseball attendance at 16,423 fans (April 15, 2023, vs. Ole Miss).

After finishing runner-up in 2013, the Diamond Dogs won their first Men's College World Series in 2021, the university's first national championship in any sport.