Natchez Pilgrimage

From 03-08 Natchez Pilgramage

We stayed in Vidalia, Louisiana to finish out the rest of winter before heading north for spring and summer. (We will be seeking cooler weather for the summer :) ) Our time in Vidalia coincided with the Spring Natchez Pilgrimage. Natchez has many antebellum homes that date from the late 1700‘s to mid 1800‘s. Fortunately none were destroyed during the Civil War. Some are operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the National Park Service or the Natchez Garden Club. These are open year round. During the Pilgrimage, additional homes that are owned by private individuals are also opened to the public to tour. We enjoyed touring some of these homes.

Included with this update are pictures from some of the 5 houses we toured. All were interesting and we would recommend taking time to visit Natchez if you are ever traveling through Mississippi. Natchez is about 80 miles south of I-20 from Clinton (near Jackson) by way of the Natchez Trace. We also highly recommend a tour along the “Trace”. The Natchez Trace is a National Park that runs from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. It was the route men would use to return north to Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, etc, after bring their flatboats down river to New Orleans with products to sell. The Trace is about 400 miles long and about ½ mile wide. There are no commercial developments or billboards and no commercial vehicles are allowed on the Trace. It is just beautiful forests and farm land. As far as I know there is not a stop sign or red light along the whole route.. You can only drive 50mph, but it is a lovely drive and a great way to travel north from Louisiana and Mississippi. We met many “snowbirds”, especially Canadians, who were heading back home by way of the Trace after spending the winter in their RV in the south,.

The first home we toured was Melrose. It was built in 1847 on the site of an ancient Indian village and is now a National Park. The home was beautiful and the park guide gave an excellent tour. He balanced his tour with descriptions of the house, the furnishing and the history of the owners with the story of the slaves who kept everything working. He used the analogy of a prized grandfather clock. The house was like the beautiful face and exterior of the clock. To work, the clock has many gears, weights and pulleys working inside behind the cover. He liken the slaves to this inner workings of the clock. Without them the building and operation of the house would not have been possible.

The next house we visited was Richmond. It is a private home that has remained in the same family since 1832. It was built in 3 stages in 1784, 1832 and 1860 in 3 different styles French Plantation, Colonial and Greek Revival.

We then toured Rosalie. It was built in 1820 and sits right on the bluffs above the Mississippi River at a spot near Fort Rosalie where the Natchez Indians massacred the French soldiers who established the fort. It was used as the headquarters for the Union General in charge of the occupation during the Civil War. Fortunately he made sure that the furniture and other family possessions were stored away and protected. So many of the pre-Civil War furnishings remain in this house and for that matter all of the other houses. What a different fate for the homes in Natchez than for those in Georgia and South Carolina where Sherman came through.

Next door to Rosalie was “The Parsonage”, built by the Presbyterian church in 1852 on land donated by Peter Little, the owner of Rosalie. It was later sold and has been in the same family since the late 1800’s. In all of these houses various hostesses greeted us at the door and as we went from room to room. They were dressed in beautiful hoop skirts a la Scarlett from “Gone with the Wind“. Many of these ladies had grown up in Natchez and played in these homes as children. However others were transplants. One of the guides was from England. Another was from Michigan. She and her husband routinely visited Natchez over the years and decided to retire to Natchez. So she has become one of the “local” guides.

The last home we toured, Longwood, was perhaps the most fascinating.

It was built in 1860 - 1861 just before the Civil War broke out. The designer and the craftsmen were from Pennsylvania. The guide said that at one point, about 200 skilled craftsmen and 600 slaves were at work on the home. They completed the exterior and the first floor or basement (not below ground). When the War started, the skilled Pennsylvania workers asked for their pay and went home. The owner, Haller Nutt, thought the War would only last a few months, and these workers would come right back. Of course that did not happen and the house was never finished. Haller died during or shortly after the War and his wife Julia and their children continued to live in the first floor. It passed down through the generations until it was donated to the Natchez Garden Club as a tourist site. You will see from the pictures that it is a most unusual octagonal design. All of these plantation owners were trying to out do each other with the building of these fancy homes. I think Longwood would have won the prize if it had ever been finished