A town with 120 National Register of Historic Places sites, 3 National Park sites, 13 National Historic Landmarks, 5 National Historic Districts, and more than 300 pre Civil War and 200 Victorian era buildings (all most all restored and well maintained) and we’re the terminus of the Natchez Trace a Historic National Parkway.

1. Natchez a place to remember, forever - See my (dimmed by my 80 year old
memory) version of why Natchez became and still is a beautiful town with
120 National Register of Historic Places sites, 3 National Park sites, 13
National Historic Landmarks, 5 National Historic Districts, and more than
300 pre Civil War and 200 Victorian era buildings (all most all restored and
well maintained) and we’re the terminus of the Natchez Trace a Historic
National Parkway.

2. They come by the thousands – Folks come from the world over to see this
fascinating place.

3. Hundreds of antebellum buildings ....

4. ..... and hundreds of “postbellum” homes most all
restored and maintained

5. Why cities are where they are – Back when cities were being founded they were
located as centers of trade and as there were no useful roads. At that time they
needed to be located where they could be serviced by water, on rivers or coast
lines. London, Paris, Rome, and Natchez were founded on major rivers.

6. The bluffs are born – Natchez is not only on the river it is perched, high and dry, on
a bluff more than a hundred feet above the river. This bluff, rare on the river, was
created at the end of the last ice age when the melting ice created a river 12 miles
wide at Natchez. When the river finally became as it is today a vast plain of fine river
dust blown by the prevailing West wind began to collect on the rolling hills that
begin just to our East. Eons later the bluffs we have today were formed. That kind of
soil is called loess (German – wind blown soil). You can see in the picture where the
loess was deposited on the existing soil. Loess is extremely stable and a building
on it does not settle at all. A foundation isn’t even needed. Natchez houses, if
constructed of durable materials will last and last and last. Don’t build near the
edge as loess erodes to 80 degrees and occasionally sloths off.

7. The land bridge is created – Natchez was originally settled by people who became
known as the Natchez. The river and the bluff made an excellent location for them
and a vibrant trade with tribes to the North developed. They could load their goods
on rafts or canoes and come to the Natchez and trade BUT they couldn’t go back on
the river. In ancient times herds of “forest” buffalo and deer traversed on trials from
the river to salt licks located near the city of Nashville and so doing blazed a trail
easily identified. The Indians used those trails to return to their territories. Naturally
the Europeans did the same making Natchez a major trading center for more than
100 years and calling it the “Natchez Trace” (from the French - tracier, ‘a path made
by others’.

8. The people arrive – The “Natchez” arrived sometime before 1,000ad. So prosperous
did they become they evolved into a rare “civilized” (not nomadic) tribe. Like other
“civilized” people they developed a highly structured society, composed of classes
royalty and commoner, based on a matriarchal model. A persons status was
dictated by their mother’s status. The ruler was the Great Sun, the eldest son of the
royal class ranking mother. Royal males MUST marry a commoner so the Great
Sun’s children were commoners. His successor would be his eldest sister’s eldest
son.
They had a highly developed and strictly enforced moral code, a strong sense of
ownership of property (by women of course), strong religious standards and a
highly developed language.

9. The last mound building culture – People who have a permanent home and plentiful
food (most of their farming was done across the river, just like the Europeans) have
a lot of time to spend in monument building. Sometime before 1300 they began
construction of a massive ceremonial structure just a few miles to the North.
“Emerald Mound” is the second largest prehistoric structure in North America. It
was a ceremonial structure, no-one lived there.

10. French frustration – When North America was settled by the Europeans the French
possessed the vast center of the Continent. Europeans settled America to ship its
vast resources to Europe but the French had a problem. The coasts where
dominated by others. They had the land and its resources but no way to ship it out.
French
frustration

11. The solution – They realized that the great river in the middle of their territory was
fed by numerous tributaries that could be used (like the Indians did) to ship their
goods BUT they needed a place as far south on the river as possible THAT HAD A
LAND BRIDGE back to origin of the shippers. In c1682 Lasalle discovered the
“Natchez” and their home at the terminus of the trace. VIOLA! European Natchez is
begun.

12. The French establish their colony on the Mississippi – In 1716 the Natchez territory
was established with Natchez as its capital. Fort Rosalie, named after the wife of the
Minister of Marine, was built on the top of the bluff and the settlement below. The
French enjoyed a vibrant trading activity. In 1729 The Natchez rebelled after
numerous outrages committed upon them by the French and massacred them. The
French army returned and nearly wiped the Natchez out. The survivors escaped
North and joined other tribes. The Natchez ceased to exist as a nation after 1732.

13. The "Gentlemen" arrive – At the end of the Seven Years War (France vs Britain,
France lost) the territory became British. King George rewarded OFFICERS who had
served with distinction land grants in the new Natchez territory. The surge was not
poor folks looking for a good living, but was substantial folks looking for wealth.
They came mostly from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. NONE came from
the southern colonies. ALL of the mansions remaining today were built by these
Northern arrive-es or their descendants.

14. The British community on the river was on the low land now known as”Natchez
under the hill”. The Houses built by the wealthy planters were in the outskirts, they
were NOT plantation houses, they were called “suburban villas”. Most of their farm
land was across the river (like the Natchez eons before) where the soil was
fabulously fertile.

15. The Spanish and progress – In 1779, when the British were preoccupied with the
Revolution, the Spanish, who held the territory to the South, came up and took the
territory. It was the Spanish that laid out the town square and instituted an
organized “city” government. Very few Spanish people came and Natchez remained
a mostly British population with mostly British social norms and activities.

16. and then came The Americans – In 1797 the Americans imposed their right to the
previous British “Natchez Territory”(from St Francisville in the South to Port Gibson
in the North, River to the Georgia line) and through negotiation acquired Natchez.
Incredibly coincidentally a device reached the area in 1798 that changed everything.

17. The machine that changed everything – the major cash crops from the French to the
Spanish were tobacco and indigo. While they were very profitable a machine was
introduced in the late 1790’s that doubled/tripled profits. The cotton gin made the
farming of cotton not just feasible but much less troublesome than farming tobacco
and indigo.

18. everything changes again – In December 1812 a steamboat came to Natchez for the
first time. The steamboat “New Orleans” incredibly later came to Natchez from New
Orleans AGAINST THE CURRENT! At that time the plantations had the ability to
produce and gin more cotton than they could move. For the first time the steamboat
made it possible the greatly increase cotton production. Wealth soared. In the 1850
census there were more millionaires per capita in Natchez than anywhere in
America.

19. The enslaved in Natchez – Slavery was introduced in the area by the Natchez.
African slavery was introduced by the French and greatly expanded by the British.
By the 1820’s it was recognized in the East that multi-generations of enslaved
people was economically unsustainable (as illustrated below, 10 people only 4
productive) Owners could be abusive but they were required by law to provide food,
clothing, shelter, and medical care from cradle to grave. In the 1820’s large numbers
of enslaved were sold out of the East to the South. The second largest slave auction
establishment was in Natchez at the “Forks of the Road”.

20. A wonderful - unusual building material – From the 1790’s to the early 20
th
century
the commonest building material in Natchez was cypress. Vast cypress groves with
trees hundreds of years old were just across the river. Cypress has two
characteristics that make it the perfect building material; the branches occur only at
the top leaving a knot free expanse for most of its height and it doesn’t rot. That’s
right it doesn’t rot. Build a house with cypress (on that stable loess soil) and there it
will be for generations. Virtually all of the old houses here are cypress top to
bottom.

21. By the hundreds they built them – By the 1830’s the combination of the gin and the
steamboat brought economic activity to new heights and hundreds of homes were
built. In fact there are more houses built in the 1830’s than any other decade. Below
is a typical local design quite poplar then.

22. All good things must come to an end – In 1863 the Civil War came to Natchez. The
Federal gunboat Exeter shelled the city killing a nine year old girl, Rosalie Beekman,
and doing minor damage. ON July the 13
th
, 9 days after Vickburg fell Natchez was
occupied by Federal troops.

23. Bad times – The Emancipation Proclamation was issued just at the time of the
occupation. Natchez was Federal but go just 5 miles out of town and you were back
in the Confederacy. As a result THOUSANDS of enslaved fled to Natchez. The Feds
were overwhelmed. The red X is where the Federal troops were located, the yellow X
was where they built quarters for the hundreds of “contrabands” they expected.
Thousands came and thousands died there.

24. Good times return – After the war many expected a financial collapse. For the
previously wealthy it did but the vast plantations became hundreds of smaller
farms. Cotton production remained high and prices increased so for the first tine
Natchez saw a rise of a prosperous middle class. Unlike the wealthy who shopped
in New Orleans or New York the new middle class shopped locally. Business
boomed.

25. Good things come to an end.... again – About 1900 the boll weavel arrived
devastating the cotton crops.

26. Poverty plays a role in preservation – Also in the early 1900s America was swept by
a building mania led by “old is bad – new is good, tear em down and rebuild”.
Natchez folk may have had the inclination but they didn’t have the money. The “old”
houses remained unpainted even, but what did it matter they were cypress and
paint is merely decorative to cypress. So the houses endured.

27. ...... and the Ladies of the Club – In 1932 a group of ladies in the Garden Club
decided to have a “Pilgrimage of Homes” to raise money to maintain the
exMansions. After all Grandma’s antebellum dresses were in the attic and they
could “dress out and receive” their “guests”. They hoped hundreds would come
instead the town was overwhelmed by thousands. Stations ran out of gas
restaurants ran out of food. Hotels filled and “bed and breakfast” was invented. It
was a success that endured for 75 years.

28. The outrages peak – After the civil war outrages committed against African
Americans became common. In 1965 Natchez Blacks marched for voting rights. The
City Counsel passed an ordinance requiring a parade permit and of course denied
one for another march. They march anyway and were promptly rounded up at the
auditorium from-which hundreds were bused to the Parchman State Penitentiary.
The Courts ruled the ordinance unconstitutional. The next year a moderate Mayor
was elected (who served 20 years) and a long period of reconciliation began. Today
Natchez enjoys an atmosphere as peaceful as any.

29. The final preservationists – In the 1980s oil was discovered in Natchez the boll
weavel was long gone. Money poured in again AND “old is is good, it must be
preserved” was the new mania. Natchez was here and ready.

30. That’s WHY
The Natchez found the location
The French established the settlement
The British brought the entrepreneurs
African Enslaved folk provided the muscle
The Spanish laid out the town
The Americans brought it all together
The gin and the steamboat brought great wealth
Cypress and solid ground preserved the houses
“The Ladies of the Club” were preservationists
******
“It’s a living museum, that’s what it is”