Ridgeland, Mississippi, found a creative way to hide a cell tower when they surrounded one with a replica of the Washington Monument. The replica — found just north of Jackson, Mississippi, on Interstate 55 — is lit up every night. There’s also a 12-foot replica of the Washington Monument under a manhole near the actual site in Washington, D.C.

Morgan Island is a 2,000-acre land mass off the coast of South Carolina that is home to a population of 4,000 rhesus monkeys. Although the island is inaccessible to humans, the monkeys can be seen from boat tours on St. Helena Sound. In the summer of 1979, 1,400 rhesus monkeys were placed on the island as research animals, and since then the population has flourished.

“Gone with the Wind” remains the highest-grossing movie of all-time when adjusted for inflation at $3.44 billion. The film focuses on the Civil War and the aftermath of the Reconstruction Era, and it was such a cultural phenomenon that the premiere was declared a statewide holiday in Georgia. Atlanta’s mayor went even further and declared it a three-day holiday.

“Regnat Populus,” which is Latin for “the people rule,” is just one example of the 25 state mottos expressed in Latin. “The people rule” has been Arkansas’ state motto on the Great Seal of the State since 1836, when it was made official in the state constitution. The motto refers to Arkansas’ role in both the War of Independence and the Civil War, idealizing the peoples’ values of justice, freedom, and independence.

Hidden deep within the 2,388-foot-tall Lookout Mountain in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau is Ruby Falls — America’s largest and deepest publicly accessible waterfall. More than 1,100 feet below the mountain’s surface, the 145-foot falls are part of a watershed that includes streams, snowmelt, rainfall, and irrigation runoff, so water flow varies dramatically throughout the year. Tours operate daily via a glass elevator that descends 260 feet into the cavern.

Venus flytraps are cultivated in many different regions, but they are native to only a small coastal area of North and South Carolina. Of the 66 carnivorous plants found in the U.S., more than half of them (36 species) are found in North Carolina. The region’s acidic soils with low nutrients make for ideal conditions for the growing of carnivorous plants that feast on insects.

The states that share the most borders with other states in the U.S. are Missouri and Tennessee, tied with eight borders. The states also border each other. In the South, Tennessee also borders Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

The Appalachian Mountains begin in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador province and stretch 2,000 miles south to their endpoint in central Alabama. By different accounts, the terminus of the range is either on Flagg Mountain near Weogufka, Alabama, or slightly further North of the Pinhoti Trail.

The rough-and-tumble tagline for the Lone Star State actually came from an anti-littering campaign from the 1980’s. The state was spending $20 million each year for trash pick-up, so the Texas Department of Transportation chose to invest in a marketing campaign to get those costs down. And it worked. A year later, roadside litter had been reduced by nearly 30%.

Louisiana was founded from Roman Catholic colonies of Spain and France, and the original local government was based on parishes. The first official map of Louisiana published in 1816 used the term parishes, as did the 1845 state constitution, and the term continues to be used today. Alaska is the only state besides Louisiana to not have counties, instead using the term “borough.”

South Carolina-style barbecue sauce includes mustard, while Alabama-style uses mayonnaise. South Carolina’s barbecue is also typically cooked low and slow over hardwood coals. In South Carolina, if someone refers to “barbecue,” they are also specifically talking about pork. If it’s any other meat, like chicken or brisket, they will refer to those meats specifically. The mustard base is frequently sweetened with brown sugar or honey.

Serving as the unofficial border between the North and the South, the Mason-Dixon Line was originally the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Defined between 1763 and 1767, the boundary was named for the two English surveyors — Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon — who were brought in to settle a dispute between the Penns, the proprietors of Pennsylvania, and the Calverts, the proprietors of Maryland.

Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson all hail from the state of Virginia — nicknamed “the Mother of Presidents.” Those eight Presidents (which include four of the first five) put it just ahead of Ohio’s seven for the record.

Mississippi’s namesake river completely separates the state from its western neighbor, Arkansas. It also creates a partial border between Mississippi and Louisiana, though the two states also share a significant land border. Running for 2,318 miles, the Mississippi River flows through 10 states overall, serving as the partial borders for Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, and Tennessee.

The Triple Crown of horse racing is made up of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. The season begins with the Kentucky Derby at the Churchill Downs race track in Louisville on the first Saturday in May. The Kentucky Derby was first held in 1875, making it the longest-running annual sporting event in the United States.

The birthplace of many blues legends, from B.B. King to Muddy Waters, Mississippi has long played an important role in the history of blues music, which took hold along the Mississippi Delta in the years following the Civil War. In 2006, the Mississippi Blues Commission established the Mississippi Blues Trail, which marks historical sites that influenced the genre, including the birthplaces of its most famous musicians and legendary blues venues.

Stand on top of Lookout Mountain on a clear day and you can see seven states at once (with a little help from binoculars). The summit is in Georgia, and from there you can also see Tennessee (a half mile away), Alabama (25 miles), North Carolina (50 miles), South Carolina (80 miles), and Kentucky and Virginia (about 120 miles). Lookout Mountain is one of the few places in the United States where so many states are visible at one time.

Coca-Cola still runs their global operations from the same place it was born in 1866: Atlanta, Georgia. Coke was only available as a fountain beverage for its first few decades of its existence — it wasn’t until Joseph Biedenharn decided to bottle the beverage in 1894 (in Mississippi) that it exploded in popularity. Atlanta is also home to the World of Coca-Cola Museum, and many people in the South call all soft drinks “Coke.”

There are four states with capitals named after U.S. Presidents: Lincoln, Nebraska; Jefferson City, Missouri; Madison, Wisconsin; and Jackson, Mississippi. Jackson was named after Andrew Jackson following his win as a general in the Battle of New Orleans, seven years before he became President in 1829.

For the price of $11.25 million and an agreement to forgive $3.75 million in national debt, France sold 530 million acres of land to the United States in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase. The U.S. nearly went to war with France over the territory before an agreement was reached between Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte.