Natchez, MS Summary

Natchez’s graceful architecture and spectacular natural setting—high on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River—combine to make it one of the prettiest antebellum towns in the state. Unlike most Southern towns under Union occupation, Natchez remained unscathed during the Civil War.

Now with a population of 19,460, it is a remarkably preserved gem reflecting the South’s Golden Age.

Allow the best part of a day to visit the antique shops and the stately buildings in the historic district.

The town was originally home to the Natchez Indians. Initially they coexisted peacefully with the French who established the Fort Rosalie trading post here in 1716.

However the Natchez soon became disenchanted with the arrangement, and in 1729 made a brutal attack on the outpost; in retaliation the tribe was subsequently banished from their ancestral land. Visitors can view the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, a reconstructed and archeological site that depicts the tribe’s unique infrastructure.

Natchez was the capital of the Mississippi Territory from 1798 until 1822, when Jackson took on the role. In the 1820s Natchez’s port began welcoming the steamboats that plied the Mississippi during the river’s grand days as a major transport route. It was during this period that many wealthy planters moved to town, establishing magnificent estates close to the banks. The riverboat landing at Natchez Under The Hill was once a notorious den for unsavory folk, littered with saloons and brothels, and called “Sodom of the Mississippi” by residents. Now the luxurious Lady Luck casino is perched at the landing. There are numerous opportunities here to catch a classic Mississippi River vista of the Delta Queen or Mississippi Queen riverboats making their way slowly upstream from New Orleans.

The town’s well-restored and maintained buildings are attributed in large part to the work of two local organizations—the Natchez Garden Club and the Natchez Pilgrimage Garden Club.

Both are based at Stanton Hall on Pearl Street. Notable mansions (and their delightful, old-fashioned gardens) now on show to the public include Linden, Monmouth, Auburn, Stanton Hall, and Longwood. The 84-acre plantation home, Melrose, operated by the National Park Service, features the original slave quarters behind the main house.

The Historic Natchez Foundation can provide visitors with lots of interesting information on local historic estates.

Natchez is served by Jackson Airport, 155 miles east, and by Baton Rouge Airport in Louisiana.