Natchez, Mississippi
|
We spent two days in Natchez. Before the civil war it was a very important and extremely wealthy town; its wealth based on cotton and slavery. The Civil War destroyed the basis of its wealth and then, like many other Old South cities, time passed it by. As a result, it retained many of its grand old houses until sufficient interest and money developed to save and restore the old houses. We stayed in one them - the Monmouth plantation and visited Longwood.
Natchez, like Vicksburg lies atop bluffs along the Mississippi. The area below the city itself is known as "Natchez Under the Hill" and used to be the lair of riverboat gamblers, highwaymen and other usavory characters.
Todaysome of the houses are restored and contain shops and restaurants. We had a very nice dinner in one of them, overlooking the Mississippi and the current den of riverboat gambling - the casino ship "Isle of Capri"
Bridge across the Mississippi to Louisiana and Casino Ship
Across the Bridge is Louisiana - the next state on our journey.
Grand Village of the Natchez Indians
Natchez used to have a large Indian village, until it was razed by the (at that time) French colonial powers. Today the location of the former village contains a large number of mounds on which the important village huts were situated. Below the mound of the "Great Sun", the home of the village chief. I'm on top, "Luis" aka Nick can be seen below in outline.
The site also contains a museum with artifacts dating to the time of the Grand Village that have been excavated on the site and a replica of a typical Natchez Indian hut.
Interior of hut
The Cloisters; Ellis Island Museums NYC Natural History Transportation Monticello Richmond Williamsburg CharlestonSavannan-Montgomery Natchez Monmouth Longwood Vicksburg Santa Rosa