The Mississippi River Basin Model lays out the entire river, including landmarks such as cities, flood control structures and more. In this photo, the river snakes up from Baton Rouge, La.
The Mississippi River Basin Model has been abandoned since the 1990s after the cost of making it a tourist attraction grew too high.
The Friends of the Mississippi River Basin Model have created an extension for Google Maps that lets people know where they are on the model.
The Army Corps of Engineers created the Mississippi River Basin Model so its engineers could test the effects of weather and flood control measures on the river over time.
Construction on the Mississippi River Basin Model finished in 1966. The Army Corps of Engineers used the model heavily in the first few years, but with the high cost of operation and rise of computer modeling, it eventually began to use it less and less. The last test was in 1973.
The Mississippi River Basin Model is the largest small-scale model in the world. It represents 15,000 miles of the U.S. and is spread out over 200 acres.
The Mississippi River Basin Model spreads out over 200 acres in Buddy Butts Park.
The Mississippi River Basin Model received landmark status from the state of Mississippi in 1993. IT has been abandoned since the 1990s after the cost of making it a tourist attraction grew too high.
The Friends of the Mississippi River Basin Model are working to restore, preserve and enhance the engineering marvel.

The Mississippi River Basin Model, a National Civil Engineering Landmark, is in bad shape; however, it has improved, thanks to the Friends of the Mississippi River Basin Model organization.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.