Free & Cheap Things to Do in Meridian

Arts & Culture

A sleek downtown museum celebrating the astonishing number of creative giants from one small state — Elvis, B.B. King, Oprah, Jim Henson, Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and more. Interactive, touchscreen-rich exhibits on music, literature, film, and visual art make it engaging for all ages.

Address: 2155 Front St, Meridian, MS 39301

Tip: Free admission the first Saturday of each month. Mississippi Power customers pay $2.50 all summer; educators and active military are free. Allow about two hours for the interactive exhibits.

Family & Kids

Inside a National Historic Landmark pavilion in free Highland Park spins the world's oldest operating Dentzel carousel, hand-carved in 1896 and one of only a handful of 'menagerie' carousels left. Rides are pocket change, and the surrounding park has playgrounds and picnic areas for a cheap family afternoon.

Address: 41st Ave & 19th St (Highland Park), Meridian, MS 39307

Tip: The carousel runs afternoons (roughly 1-5pm) — check the seasonal schedule, as it's weather- and season-dependent. The park itself is free and open daily. Rides are $1; a guided tour is $2.

History & Culture

A rare surviving early-1900s machine shop and foundry, now the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, filling a downtown city block with steam engines and the tools that built the New South. Self-guided tours include a short film and the factory floor; live 'steam-up' events fire the old machines back to life.

Address: 1808 4th St, Meridian, MS 39301

Tip: Open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm (last entry 3pm); closed mid-December through mid-March for winter. Wear closed-toe shoes — floors are uneven and buildings aren't climate-controlled. Allow an hour.

Arts & Culture

A free regional art museum in the handsome 1913 Carnegie Library building downtown, with rotating exhibitions spotlighting artists from across Mississippi and Alabama, plus the juried Bi-State Annual competition. Compact and welcoming, it's an easy, free stop between the city's larger attractions.

Address: 628 25th Ave, Meridian, MS 39301

Tip: Free admission; check the calendar for opening receptions and gallery talks. The historic Carnegie Library building is worth a look itself. About 30-45 minutes.

History & Culture

One of the few antebellum homes to survive General Sherman's 1864 burning of Meridian, this rambling Greek Revival mansion grew from an 1858 cottage into a 20-room showplace. Guided tours wander ornately furnished period rooms; the holiday 'Trees of Christmas' display each winter is a local tradition.

Address: 905 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Meridian, MS 39301

Tip: Tours run Tuesday-Saturday 10am-3pm; admission isn't posted online (around $10) — call ahead. The neighboring F.W. Williams House is sometimes included. The December decorations are the highlight.

Parks & Nature

A vast 3,000-acre city park on Meridian's east side wrapped around three lakes, lightly developed and free to enjoy. A 1.2-mile paved loop circles the lower lake, and a 7-mile gravel-and-singletrack trail network draws hikers and mountain bikers, with fishing, paddling, and picnic spots throughout.

Address: 418 Lake Dr, Meridian, MS 39301

Tip: Free and open year-round. The paved lower-lake loop is easy and shaded; the singletrack is good for mountain biking. Bring a kayak for the lakes. Quiet on weekday mornings.

History & Culture

A picturesque Victorian cemetery and one of Meridian's most-visited curiosities — the burial place of Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the 'King and Queen of the Gypsies,' whose 1915 funeral drew thousands of Romani mourners. Also here are the city's founders, a Confederate burial mound, and a celebrated Confederate naval officer.

Address: 8th St & 40th Ave, Meridian, MS 39307

Tip: Free; visitors still leave coins and trinkets on the Gypsy Queen's grave. The annual fall costumed cemetery tour brings the history to life. Be respectful — it's an active historic cemetery.