What it is

The Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society (MGMS) is a first-party gem, mineral and lapidary membership club based in Florence, Mississippi. Its home page says MGMS was “charted in 1958 as a non-profit, educational organization to promote the knowledge and the enjoyment of activities related to the earth sciences”, with activities focused on “rocks, minerals, fossils, jewelry making, and lapidary arts”. The club owns and runs the MGMS Lapidary School, a building at 176 Tazan Avenue in Florence that holds lapidary rooms, a silver room, classrooms, a library and a kitchen. Members use it during scheduled shop hours after completing the club’s equipment certification classes. MGMS also holds monthly program meetings, runs field trips, funds Earth Science classroom grants for teachers, and puts on an annual gem, mineral, fossil and jewelry show in Jackson. The home page lists membership in the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies (SFMS) and, through it, the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS). It is not a commercial rock shop and not a public art school.

Who it’s for

Rockhounds, cabochon cutters, silversmiths, fossil collectors and families in the Jackson metro and central Mississippi who want a low-dues club with a dedicated lapidary building, member classes and equipment training, monthly programs and a winter show. Visitors are welcome at meetings. Junior members (ages 6 up to 18) can join for $5, but the equipment rules say no one under 14 may use the lapidary or silver-room machines.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party lapidary club with a printed street address for its own lapidary school building, a published meeting schedule, published annual dues, written equipment and participation rules, and a dated 2026 show. It is not a scraped directory card and not a rock-shop storefront.

Meetings (Meetings page, checked 2026-10-09): program meetings are held at the MGMS Lapidary School Building on the fourth Saturday of the month and start at 2:30 p.m. People coming only for the meeting start gathering around 2:00. Visitors are always welcome. Exceptions: February (members go to the annual show instead), and no meetings in November or December, with a potluck dinner in early December instead. Programs cover “some aspect of earth sciences or the lapidary arts”.
Shop hours (Meetings page, checked today): on meeting Saturdays the school is open “normal Saturday hours for membership use from 9:00am to 2:00pm”. The equipment rules add that other general-use hours are published in the newsletter.
Member benefits and training (Membership page, checked today): members can take classes, go on collecting field trips and join other special activities. “After proper training, members may use the lapidary equipment.” Members can also join SFMS-sponsored field trips and educational workshops around the Southeast.
Dues (Membership page and membership application, checked today): $35.00 family (immediate family only), $20.00 adult, $5.00 junior (ages 6 up to 18) and $5.00 adult student (ages 18 up to 25, currently enrolled in higher education) a year. Memberships run January through December, and renewal dues are payable by January 1. The site offers a mail-in application and an online option.
Equipment rules (Rules for Use of MGMS Lapidary School Equipment and Resources, revision effective December 2017, checked today): nobody may operate equipment without first completing the proper certification classes. Working alone in the building is not allowed, and a Building Supervisor must be present whenever it is in use. No one under 14 may use the lapidary machines (saws, cabbing machines and so on) or silver-room equipment. Members can rent lockers on an annual basis, and some club rough and slabs are sold to members. Commercial or mass-production work on club equipment is not allowed because MGMS is a nonprofit.
2026 show (Annual Gem Show page, checked today): February 28 and March 1, 2026, at the Trade Mart on the State Fairgrounds in Jackson. Hours were Saturday 9:00–6:00 and Sunday 9:00–4:00. Admission was adults $8, students $3, Scouts and leaders in uniform $2, children 5 and under free. The page lists over 25 dealers, demonstrations of cabochon cutting, flint knapping and jewelry making, and a children’s activities booth. The home page says the show is held “each year in late February”.
Earth Science Grant Program (Grant page, checked today): public and non-public school teachers who teach Earth Science can apply for classroom funds. Deadlines are March 31 (spring semester) and September 15 (fall semester).

These dues, schedules and show details are what the official site showed on the check date, and they can change. Confirm on the live site before treating any figure as fixed.

Official URL

Last checked: 2026-10-09

https://missgems.org/

Meetings: https://missgems.org/lifestyle/

Membership and dues: https://missgems.org/faq-2/

Annual Gem Show (2026): https://missgems.org/news/

Directions to the MGMS Lapidary School: https://missgems.org/faq/

Rules for Use of Lapidary School Equipment and Resources (PDF): https://missgems.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Rules-for-Use-of-Lapidary-School-Equipment-Approved-Decmber-2017.pdf

Membership application (PDF): https://missgems.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Membership-Application-2023-12-2022.pdf

Earth Science Grant Program: https://missgems.org/grant/

Contact: https://missgems.org/contact-us-2/

Location

Meetings and the club’s lapidary school (home, Directions and Contact pages, checked 2026-10-09): MGMS Lapidary School, 176 Tazan Avenue, Florence, Mississippi 39073. The Directions page says the building is “just a few miles south of the capitol city of Jackson” in a residential area just south of Richland, and is “the only industrial type building on this street”. From U.S. Highway 49, turn west on Cleary Road at the Texaco station across from the Tractor Supply store. The mailing address on club forms is 176 Tazan Avenue, Florence, MS 39073-8720. Contact is by the site’s contact form, and grant questions go to [email protected]. A club phone number is not stated on site.

The Tazan Avenue building is a member club lapidary school. It is not a walk-in lapidary supply store or a public classroom open without membership.

Notes

Category is Clubs. MGMS is a membership society with meetings, a member lapidary school, member classes, field trips, a grant program and an annual show. It stays in Clubs rather than Workshops or Suppliers.
The listing uses Florence as the city because that is the school’s postal address. The site notes the building is physically near Richland, and the annual show is in Jackson.
The site footer reads ”© 2019”, and the downloadable rules date from 2017–2019. The PDF membership application is a 2023 form, but its dues match the Membership page. The newest dated content is the 2026 show (February 28–March 1, 2026), which is already past. The 2027 show date is not posted yet.
The Membership page’s online application link goes to a third-party Zeffy form titled “2026 MGMS membership application”. It returned HTTP 403 (a bot check) to curl on the check date, so it is not cited here.
The meeting schedule is a rule (“4th Saturday”), not a list of dates. By that rule the next meeting would be Saturday, October 24, 2026, followed by no November or December meeting. That date is worked out from the rule and is not printed on the site.
Specific class topics, class fees and current field-trip dates are not stated on site. The site says scheduled school hours are published in the newsletter.
The Show Vendor Info page still quotes a dealer space price “for 2024” ($675 for 7 tables, $275 for 3 tables) and a 27-dealer limit.
The first-party MGMS logo (shovel and rock hammer crossed behind an outline of Mississippi) is saved as mississippi-gem-and-mineral-society.jpg. It came from the club site (/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/logo-city.jpg, 1176×408) and is unchanged.
Not affiliated with Lapidary Plaza.
No Lapidary Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What does MGMS membership cost?
A: The Membership page (checked 2026-10-09) lists $35.00 a year for a family, $20.00 for an adult, $5.00 for a junior (ages 6 up to 18) and $5.00 for an adult student (ages 18 up to 25 in higher education). Memberships run January–December, with renewals due January 1. See https://missgems.org/faq-2/

Q: When and where does the club meet?
A: At 2:30 p.m. on the fourth Saturday of the month at the MGMS Lapidary School, 176 Tazan Avenue, Florence, MS. There is no meeting in February (show month), November or December. Visitors are welcome.

Q: Can members use the lapidary equipment?
A: Yes, after training. Members must complete the club’s certification classes before running any equipment unsupervised, a Building Supervisor must be present, and no one under 14 may use the lapidary or silver-room machines. Saturday member hours on meeting days are 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Q: When is the Mississippi gem and mineral show?
A: The MGMS Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show is held each year in late February. The 2026 show was February 28–March 1 at the Trade Mart on the State Fairgrounds in Jackson. Admission was $8 for adults and $3 for students. The 2027 date was not posted on the check date.

Q: Is MGMS a lapidary school or a rock shop?
A: Neither as listed here. MGMS is under Clubs. Its “Lapidary School” is the club’s own member building, used for training, classes and meetings. For public-enrollment classes, see Workshops. For equipment and rough, see Suppliers.