Natchez, MS

Tuesday, we left Bossier City and drove to Natchez, MS. It was about 200 miles and part of it in the rain and some wind. We are staying at Riverview RV park right on the bank of the Mississippi River across from Natchez. We were tired after the drive, so we just stayed in the motorhome for the evening after we got set up. We have a pretty good view of the river from here and enjoy watching the tugboats and barges go up and down the river.
On Wednesday we went to the visitor's center in Natchez. We watched a video on the area and picked up a lot of information and brochures. Then we ate our lunch that we had brought with us down by the river in an area that they call Natchez Under the Hill. After lunch we drove past most of the antebellum mansions that are open to visitors to see which ones we were most interested in. We went to a couple of stores and headed back home for the day.
Today we drove out to a house called Melrose. It is owned and operated by the National Park Service. It was not located on a plantation even though the man who built it owned several cotton plantations. This was his town home but he still had several slaves to do the work there. Click here to see more of the owners stories. Here is the front of the house.

And here is the rear of the house.

Here are some pictures of some of the interior rooms. 85% of the furnishings are original. This is a fan located over the dining room table. It would be operated by a rope and pulley system by servants  for cooling and to keep the flies away.

I was impressed by the massive pocket doors between rooms.

Original book case with the original books

Looking into the back yard from the second story porch. The live oak tree is really impressive.

The building on the left was the kitchen downstairs and servant quarters upstairs. Now the downstairs is the visitor center and gift shop.

The building on the right is the dairy downstairs and servant quarters upstairs.

the carriage house contained 4 buggies.

There were two buildings behind the house for the slave quarters. This is the front of one of them.

This is the rear.

The inside of one of them. Pretty sure that the air conditioner unit was not original.

The bathroom.

The barn where the servants kept their horses after the war.

We left there and went down to an area called Natchez under the hill. This is an area down by the river below the bluff that Natchez is built on. The buildings there were destroyed by a tornado in 1840 by the second deadliest tornado in the united states that killed 314 people. All of these buildings were built after that. We ate lunch at the Camp Restaurant in this one.

In the background you can see the bridge across the Mississippi that we cross to get to our RV park.

After lunch we decided to tour Longwood. It is an octagonal house and they had the brickwork and the outside done this far and the basement finished inside before being interrupted by the civil war. The owner lost his fortune and his life by the end of the war. His family continued to live in the finished basement and the house was never finished. You can read more about it if you Click here.

The original carriage house on the grounds had a variety of tools and equipment inside.

And a large loom that was used by the owner's wife.

This is the slaves' quarters that was built before the house (another existing main house was torn down to build the new one). The family lived in here while the new house was being built.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the basement area, so these are all taken on the main floor.

The floor plan of the main level.

Looking up to the underside of the dome. The upper floors are designed around the open center. All of the floors and railings are left from the construction stage. We were not allowed to go above the main level for safety reasons. Darn it!

Floor plan of the second floor.

Looking out from the back porch at the live oaks with the Jeep in the background.

Their grand piano was in the finished basement and this crate that it was shipped to them in was left on the main floor.

The bricklayers' work bench as they left it.

A closeup of the front of the house. If it was completed all of the bricks would be covered with stucco and made to look like marble.

A short walk down the hill was the family cemetery.

We enjoyed the tour and I really liked being able to see the construction details in the unfinished part.

Next we went to St. Mary's Basilica. This is a beautiful church that once was a cathedral. You can click here to see more about it. The church was beautiful and the stained glass windows were amazing and numerous. I will try to do a separate post on the windows. 

Behind the church was a small city park with this confederate memorial. I thought I should get a pictures since they are being destroyed.