Natchez
Natchez was named for the Natchez Indians who lived in the area between 800AD through the French Colonial period. In the mid 1800’s Natchez became one of the most prosperous cities in the south because cotton was a very valuable commodity. Grown by plantation owners on the backs of slaves it was transported downriver for export to Europe via the Mississippi. These plantation owners, and often other businessmen from the north, built lavish homes in the city. These beautiful homes have been preserved as historical sites and sit on heavily shaded streets giving a lush look to the downtown. That said, there are few shops and fewer still restaurants so the downtown has little else to offer which is why there is no one walking around. Today, tourism and hospitality are the industries that keep Natchez afloat. Many Mississippi River cruises stop in Natchez in addition to tourists who drive in. So why go? - go for spectacular views of the Mississippi, for a visit to these historical homes and to some of the Natchez Indian mounds. A couple of days should do it.
Anecdotal Stories & Observations
We were on a “golf-cart” historical tour of the downtown area. The driver pulled up beside one of the historical houses and was giving us information about its background and ownership when a black, unmarked car with darkened windows slid up beside the cart on the passenger side. The window slowly began to decline and a man wearing a shirt with a Natchez police badge and a mask hanging from his right ear, grinned at our driver. “You haven’t seen a black bear roaming about have you?” he asked? “No,” she responded. “Well, he’s on the move in the downtown area, so be careful” he warned and drove slowly away. The driver told us that the presence of the black bear had been a story “the whole town was talking about last night”.
Later that afternoon, several streets had been blocked off, complicating our drive home, as the authorities were closing in. We never learned the outcome of that poor bear!
The Natchez Museum of African American Culture and History
This small museum, located in what someone told me was an old post office, is lovingly cared for despite a glaring lack of funds. The panoply of slave-era cotton wealth displayed through dozens of Natchez mansions and houses almost completely overpowers the enslaved African American story. The women who started the museum were dedicated to adding that story back in. It is unfortunate that so few people visit. It is chock full of the personalized histories of Natchez African Americans from the slave period through the civil rights movement. I highly suggest you visit the website to find a list of African American sites of interest to add to your list of places to visit once you get herein make sure you spend some time in this lovely little gem of a museum. We were greeted at the door by an older man who seemed astonished to see anyone. He turned out to be a lovely warm person who showed us the main exhibits and then left us alone to explore and read at our leisure. We probably could have spent a lot more time there. I didn’t expect it to be so jammed full of information. The museums contents could have used the hand of an expert curator, but nonetheless the intimate look into Afro-American life in Natchez MS was stunningly revealing. It behooves us to remember that nineteenth century southern wealth, with all its gorgeous architecture, was built on the unpaid labor of enslaved peoples and not get dazzled by the one-sided gilt presented to us.
