Natchez, Mississippi...the prettiest town in the state!

Rosalie Mansion, built in 1823

On Tuesday, we motored down a small section of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444 mile scenic by-way that was originally an animal trail and later used by Native Americans and pioneer settlers. Farmers from the north floated their crops downstream on the Mississippi River and then walked or rode back north on the Natchez Trace. The parkway, now paved and maintained by the National Park Service, extends from Nashville, Tennessee, at the north end all the way to Natchez at the south end.

When we arrived in Natchez, a beautiful little town perched on bluffs above the Mississippi River, we started at the Visitor Center where we found an extensive museum exhibit about the town, its history, citizenry and industry. The area was originally occupied by the French, then the English, and then the Spanish who, in 1798, gave the Natchez area to the United States. Tobacco and indigo were staple crops until the advent of the cotton gin in 1795 and the increase in slavery that followed brought about a boom in the cotton industry and significant wealth to Natchez farmers and merchants. That wealth produced some of the finest examples of antebellum homes in existence today.

Old home on Broadway St. in Natchez, MS

In 1932, women of Natchez's garden club started the Spring Pilgrimage tour to showcase some of the town's beautiful mansions and gardens, complete with tour guides in antebellum clothing. Coincidentally, this year's Spring Pilgrimage was in full swing when we arrived. With the beautiful 85 degree weather, we decided to tour the town by foot. We began up the hill from the Visitor Center at Rosalie Mansion, a beautiful antebellum home built in 1823 by Peter Little. The name, Rosalie, comes from Fort Rosalie built in 1716 by Frenchman Bienville on land near the current mansion. The mansion's gardens are full of stunning azaleas and lots of other flowering bushes with towering old trees providing an umbrella of filtered sunlight over everything.

William Johnson House and Museum

From there we walked along the park overlooking the Mississippi River next to Broadway Street. We walked up State Street and found the William Johnson House and Museum. Mr. Johnson, born the son of a slave woman in 1809, was emancipated at the age of 11 by his white slave owner of the same name, presumably his father. He went on to become a successful businessman and slaveholder, and he also kept an extensive diary of his life as a free black man in Natchez. These diaries provide historians with an unique glimpse into Mr. Johnson's life and business as well as the goings-on of Natchez between 1835 and his death in 1851. In the museum, we saw the rooms the Johnsons used on the second floor as bedrooms and a study, as well as the kitchen dependency (an outside building for the kitchen and servants) built just behind the residence. It was fascinating!

First Presbyterian Church, Natchez, MS

We walked on to the First Presbyterian Church where we discovered Natchez in Historic Photographs, a 100 year account of the town and its peoples in pictures taken by three different photographers. The photos begin with Natchez in the 1850's and end in 1951. There are literally hundreds of pictures of women, men, and children, both black and white, in their finery for picture day, as well as shots of the town's businesses, buildings, streets, port, and steamboats. There were also pictures of the "Under the Hill" section of town, infamously known in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for its brothels, bars, riverboat gambling and general bawdiness. Fabulous photo exhibit!

Smith-Bontura-Evans House

Next we took in the town's business district...a quaint little Main street kind of place with lots of little shops and restaurants. Some ice cream made its way into our hands along the way. We peeked in shop windows and strolled through some antique stores before heading back to the car. On our walk back, we found the Smith-Bontura-Evans House, a pretty two-story Greek Revival style home built in the 1850's for Robert Smith, a free black man.

Glen Auburn

We drove around some of the streets we hadn't seen on foot to catch some more of the gorgeous antebellum homes. We found Glen Auburn, a spectacular privately-owned Second Empire style home built by Christian Schwartz in 1875 on a bit of a hill above Commerce Street.

We found block after block of beautiful homes, but couldn't stop to take pictures of every one of them...Ken's infinite patience with me was wearing thin. I acquiesced so naturally we headed to the former brothel area, Under the Hill, for a beer or two. We found a little dive bar creatively called Under-the-Hill Saloon and ordered Mississippi-brewed Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan nut brown ale. Yum. Double yum.

Under the Hill and riverboat casino from the bluffs

We left Natchez in search of a new restaurant recommended to us by the bartender, but alas, could not find it. (Too bad, too, as they were reportedly serving 50 cent raw oysters.) Nonetheless, we continued on our way back toward the RV and found instead Froghead Grill in Clinton, MS, and we were thrilled. Our sweet waitress served us good food and a pitcher of Southern Pecan beer...froggerrific!

What a great day!