Mississippi State University, situated in Starkville in the heart of the Mississippi Golden Triangle region, is one of the South’s flagship research universities and home to the Bulldogs. The campus spans more than 4,200 acres and blends historic Victorian-era architecture with modern research facilities. This interactive map draws on the university’s own ArcGIS data to show buildings, transit stops, points of interest, EV charging stations, parking zones, gameday resources, and current construction zones.
Campus Buildings
The MSU campus contains 188 mapped structures, ranging from 19th-century historic landmarks to state-of-the-art research halls. Among the most notable are the Industrial Education Building, George Hall, McCain Engineering, Lee Hall, and Mitchell Memorial Library, which anchors the north end of the iconic Drill Field.
Many buildings carry detailed histories in the university’s GIS data. The Industrial Education Building (1900) is one of the oldest on campus, constructed in Italianate style and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. George Hall (1902) originally served as the campus infirmary and hospital, while Lee Hall (1909) was built as both an academic hall and chapel, named after MSU’s first president. McCain Engineering (1905), designed in Beaux Arts style by architect Richard H. Hunt, now houses the Dean’s office and the Industrial Engineering Department.
Click any building footprint on the map to read its name, building number, and historical description where available.
Landmarks and Points of Interest
The campus hosts 6 designated points of interest, each with a rich narrative drawn from MSU’s own campus records: the Drill Field, The Junction, Eckie’s Pond, the MAFES Sales Store, the Veterans Memorial Rose Garden, and the MSU Community Garden.
The Drill Field, at the geographic center of campus, is the university’s most beloved gathering space. Named after early ROTC military drills, it is framed by Lee Hall and Swalm Hall at either end and fronted by Mitchell Memorial Library. The Junction, formerly known as Malfunction Junction, was redesigned into a pedestrian-friendly green space in 2005 after the roads were rerouted away from the original chaotic crossing.
Eckie’s Pond was designed by horticulture professor A.B. McKay to demonstrate natural irrigation in produce farming — the nickname derives from students’ name for McKay. The MAFES Sales Store, housed in the Herzer Food Science Building, produces approximately 90,000 pounds of cheddar cheese and other dairy products each year as part of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
S.M.A.R.T. Transit System
MSU operates the S.M.A.R.T. (Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit) bus system, with 39 stops mapped across campus and into the surrounding Starkville community. Named routes include the Old Main Express, Central Loop, South Loop, Greek Loop, Evening Loop, Sportsplex Express, and Research Loop.
Key stops include Humphrey Coliseum, the Welcome Center, Montgomery Hall, Zacharias Village, Sorority Row, Fraternity Row, and the Sportsplex, as well as off-campus destinations such as the OCH Regional Medical Center, Walmart, Starkville Crossing, Chandler Apartments, and Vowell’s Grocery. The Evening Loop extends coverage after regular hours, and the Research Loop connects the main campus to outlying research facilities including HPC2 and the Forest Products Stop.
Toggle the S.M.A.R.T. Stops layer on the map to find the transit stop nearest to any building or parking area.
Parking and Transportation
Parking at MSU is organized into color-coded permit zones. The 2024-25 Parking Zones layer shows the legacy boundaries including Staff, Commuter (North, East, South, and West), Resident (North, East, and South), Greek (North and South), Gated Staff, Commuter and Staff shared zones, Timed or Metered spots, and the Maroon Zone. The 2025-26 Parking Tiers layer reflects the updated zone boundaries and tier designations now in effect. Toggle either layer to compare or locate your permit zone. Gated parking locations and individual parking lot points are also available as separate layers.
In addition to traditional vehicle parking, MSU has 11 EV charging station points installed at multiple locations across campus to support the growing number of electric vehicles among students, faculty, and staff. Toggle the EV Charging layer to locate the nearest charger.
Gameday Resources
On football and basketball gamedays, MSU activates an extensive set of campus controls visible in the Gameday layers. Gameday Parking polygons show color-coded lot assignments by permit type. Gameday Shuttle Stops mark pick-up and drop-off points for the event shuttle network. Road Closures (dashed red lines) and Roadblocks indicate streets that are closed or restricted to through traffic. Bollard Zones show areas where vehicle-exclusion bollards are deployed for pedestrian safety. All gameday layers default to off and can be toggled on individually from the layer panel.
Gate Access and Drop-off Locations
The Gate Access layer shows controlled entry and exit points around campus, with each gate labeled by access type, permitted vehicle classes, and operating hours. Drop-off Locations mark designated passenger pick-up and drop-off points across campus, useful for rideshare, ADA access, and visitor arrivals. A Dining Options layer is also available, showing campus dining facilities with category and session-type information.
Campus Safety and Emergency Resources
MSU maintains 55 blue-light emergency phones distributed across campus, providing immediate connection to the MSU Police Department. Each phone is mapped to a specific building or zone for rapid dispatcher response.
During gameday events at Davis Wade Stadium and Humphrey Coliseum, additional resources are deployed including First Aid stations, police presence, and restroom facilities across 24 mapped amenity locations. The Gameday Amenities layer shows the locations of these event-day resources.
Active Construction Projects
Like many large research universities, MSU maintains an active building and infrastructure program. Currently 7 construction or renovation project areas are shown in the campus GIS data, with some projects spanning multiple phases. Visitors and students should be aware that pedestrian pathways and parking near these zones may be affected during active construction periods. Toggle the Construction Areas layer to see the current footprints.
About Mississippi State University
Founded in 1878 as the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, Mississippi State University is the state’s land-grant institution and a Carnegie R1 Doctoral University. It enrolls more than 22,000 students across colleges including Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture, Art and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, Forest Resources, and Veterinary Medicine.
The university is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and its athletic teams compete as the Bulldogs, with football played at Davis Wade Stadium. MSU is also home to the Bagley College of Engineering, the Mississippi State University Extension Service, and major federal research partnerships with NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This map is built from MSU’s publicly available ArcGIS FeatureServer data and loads live data each time the page is viewed.
