Carnegie Branch Library (Meridian, Mississippi)

Haven Institute and Conservatory of Music, also known simply as Haven Institute, was an American private historically black Methodist college active from 1865 until the early-1930s, located in Meridian, Mississippi. It was founded in 1865 by Moses Austin, a pastor of the Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal Church of Meridian and a formerly enslaved person. Originally it was called Meridian Academy and it was located at 27th Avenue and 13th Street in Waynesboro, Georgia, however the name changed in 1914 and the campus moved in 1921.

The Masonic Temple at 1220 26th Avenue, Meridian, Mississippi was built in 1903. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It was also listed as a contributing property to the Merrehope Historic District in 1988. It has since been demolished.The temple was owned jointly by three black fraternal lodges and stood as a tribute to the business capacity and enterprise of the black community in the city. The structure was two stories tall with a recessed entrance supported by panelled Ionic pilasters that bore the keystone of Freemasonry and the insignia of the Shriners. The effort to build the temple was largely spearheaded by T.J. Wilson.

The Elson-Dudley House is a historic home located at 1101 29th Avenue, Meridian, Mississippi. Built in 1894 by Julius and Dora Neubauer Elson, some of Meridian's earliest settlers, the home is a Victorian Eastlake movement home with Queen Anne influence. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1979, under the Meridian Multiple Property Submission. It is also part of Merrehope Historic District, which was listed on the National Register on September 19, 1988.The "pink house", as it is known locally, prominently features pedimented gables, a front veranda with a corner, conical-roofed turret, and a conical roofed tower. The front porch features turned balusters with center beads and the multi-panel entrance door is headed by a stained glass transom. The 5,000 sq ft (465 m2), 16-room mansion sits on a 29,620.8 sq ft (0.68 acres) lot and takes up half a city block. The Elson-Dudley house contains 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The house holds 10 fireplaces, 5 chimneys, a grand staircase, and sports an asymmetrical facade.

The Meridian Public School District is a public school district based in Meridian, Mississippi (USA). Its service area is the same as the city limits of Meridian.

Wechsler School is a historic school in Meridian, Mississippi erected in 1894. The school was the first brick public school building in Mississippi built with public funds for African-American children. It originally served primary through eighth grades but was later expanded to include high school as well. The school was named in honor of Rabbi Judah Wechsler of Congregation Beth Israel, who had led and inspired Meridian public to approve a bond issue to raise money for construction of the school. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1993.

Meridian Baptist Seminary is a former educational institution for African-Americans in Meridian, Mississippi. The college was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 8, 1979, but delisted in 2008 after a fire destroyed the building in 2007.

The Meridian campaign or Meridian expedition took place from February 3 – March 6, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi, by the Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman captured Meridian, Mississippi, inflicting heavy damage to it. The campaign is viewed by historians as a prelude to Sherman's March to the Sea (Savannah campaign) in that a large swath of damage and destruction was inflicted on Central Mississippi as Sherman marched across the state and back. Two supporting columns were under the command of Brigadier General William Sooy Smith and Colonel James Henry Coates. Smith's expedition was tasked to destroy a rebel cavalry commanded by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, maintain communications with Middle Tennessee and take men from the defense on the Mississippi River to the Atlanta campaign. To maintain communications, it was to protect the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Coates' expedition moved up the Yazoo River and for a while occupied Yazoo City, Mississippi.

First Presbyterian Church of Meridian is a historic church in Meridian, Mississippi, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church was founded in 1856 by eight members including John T. Ball and Lewis A. Ragsdale, founders of the city of Meridian. The reverend at the time was William Curtis Emerson.From 1856 to 1867, the church met in the second floor of a store owned by one of the members. In 1867, the church had grown enough to construct a building on the corner of 25th Avenue and 7th Street in which to hold its services. After a fire on January 27, 1883, the building was destroyed; members of the church later rebuilt the structure using brick instead of wood. The church remained at its location on 25th Avenue and 7th Street until September 25, 1911, when it was sold to the city of Meridian. The city currently uses the building to house the Meridian Museum of Art.After selling the old building, the church bought a lot at the corner of 23rd Avenue and 10th Street. The building, designed by architect Penn Jeffries Krouse, was built in 1913 and dedicated on March 29, 1914. In 1951, an educational building addition used for Sunday School was completed under the leadership of pastor Dr. J. Kelly Unger.It was listed on the National Register in 1979. It was deemed more notable than other churches in Meridian for "its historical significance" and because it was designed by P.J. Krouse, "architect of most of Meridian's outstanding buildings from 1900-1920".The sanctuary was renovated in 1982. In October 1996, the church bought an adjacent building which became the Administration & Education Building and is used for staff offices as well as both Adult Sunday School and committee meetings.

Meridian is the eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. Along major highways, the city is 93 mi (150 km) east of Jackson; 154 mi (248 km) southwest of Birmingham, Alabama; 202 mi (325 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana; and 231 mi (372 km) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. Established in 1860, at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway of Mississippi, Meridian built an economy based on the railways and goods transported on them, and it became a strategic trading center. During the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman burned much of the city to the ground in the Battle of Meridian (February 1864). Rebuilt after the war, the city entered a "Golden Age". It became the largest city in Mississippi between 1890 and 1930, and a leading center for manufacturing in the South, with 44 trains arriving and departing daily. Union Station, built in 1906, is now a multi-modal center, with access to Amtrak and Greyhound Buses averaging 242,360 passengers per year. Although the economy slowed with the decline of the railroad industry, the city has diversified, with healthcare, military, and manufacturing employing the most people in 2010. The population within the city limits, according to 2008 census estimates, is 38,232, but a population of 232,900 in a 45-mile (72 km) radius and 526,500 in a 65-mile (105 km) radius, of which 104,600 and 234,200 people respectively are in the labor force, feeds the economy of the city. The area is served by two military facilities, Naval Air Station Meridian and Key Field, which employ over 4,000 people. NAS Meridian is home to the Regional Counter-Drug Training Academy (RCTA) and the first local Department of Homeland Security in the state. Students in Training Air Wing ONE (Strike Flight Training) train in the T-45C Goshawk training jet. Key Field is named after brothers Fred and Al Key, who set a world endurance flight record in 1935. The field is now home to the 186th Air Refueling Wing of the Air National Guard and a support facility for the 185th Aviation Brigade of the Army National Guard. Rush Foundation Hospital is the largest non-military employer in the region, employing 2,610 people. Among the city's many arts organizations and historic buildings are the Riley Center, the Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian Little Theatre, and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. Meridian was home to two Carnegie libraries, one for whites and one for African Americans. The Carnegie Branch Library, now demolished, was one of a number of Carnegie libraries built for blacks in the Southern United States during the segregation era. The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (the MAX) is located in downtown Meridian. Jimmie Rodgers, the "Father of Country Music", was born in Meridian. Highland Park houses a museum which displays memorabilia of his life and career, as well as railroad equipment from the steam-engine era. The park is also home to the Highland Park Dentzel Carousel, a National Historic Landmark. It is the world's only two-row stationary Dentzel menagerie in existence. Other notable natives include Miss America 1986 Susan Akin; James Chaney, an activist who was one of three civil rights workers murdered in 1964; singer Paul Davis; and Hartley Peavey, founder of Peavey Electronics headquartered in Meridian. The federal courthouse was the site of the 1966–1967 trial of suspects in the murder of Chaney and two other activists. For the first time, an all-white jury convicted a white official of a civil rights killing.

The Hamasa Shrine Temple Theater, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, is a historic theater located at 2320 8th Street in Meridian, Mississippi. The Temple Theater was constructed in the Moorish Revival style and began screening silent films in 1928. The theater features a Byzantine motif, a swirl of marble fountains, and large bronze chandeliers. At the time of its construction, the theater contained one of the largest stages in the United States, second only to the Roxy Theater in New York City. The theater houses one of only two Robert Morton theatre organs still installed in their original locations in the State of Mississippi – the other being installed at the Saenger Theater in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Both organs are under the care and restoration efforts of the Magnolia Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS).The Temple, originally used for vaudeville and movies, is now used year-round for area events, live stage shows, plays, and concerts.

The Porter-Crawford House, at 1208 22nd Ave. in Meridian, Mississippi, is a historic Queen Anne style house that was built in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as part of a Multiple Property Submission.It was deemed notable as "the only remaining example on 22nd Avenue of the Queen Anne style, a style once dominant on Silk Stocking Row."

The Cahn-Crawford House at 1200 22nd Avenue in Meridian, Mississippi was built in 1918. The house was built by a businessman named E. Cahn, the same person who owned the Masonic Temple in the city.The structure is a two-story tan and dark brown brick building with a green-tiled roof. A large marble staircase on the street side of the building leads to a balconied entry portico with corner piers capped by stone finials.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, after being included in the Meridian Multiple Resource Area, a study of possibly noteworthy buildings in the city.