Oct.17,2010 Natchez

Today we decided to drive the car down to Natchez instead of taking the RV.Tomorrow we will be heading to northeast Texas and didn’t want to backtrack.Natchez is situated on the Mighty Mississippi.Natchez was known for its cotton and the 1st steamboat to come down the Ole Miss was in 1812.It left with its first bale of cotton.Today people come from all over to see the beautiful mansions built by the cotton kings.They have a fall pilgrimage in Oct. and you can take bus tours of the homes.We got tickets to see 3 of the homes and really enjoyed the history of each one.The 1st one we visited was Stanton Hall.

Stanton Hall is one of the most magnificent antebellum homes in America of the Greek Revival era.It was built by Fredrick Stanton a cotton baron who came from Ireland.Everything in this home is in beautiful condition.No pictures were allowed inside so you’ll have to do your own tour.Next on the tour is Longwood.

Longwood

Longwood is the largest octagonal house America.The mansion was built in 1860 for wealthy cotton planter Haller Nutt and his wife Julia.The rotunda is open to the entire 6 stories crowning the Byzantine Moorish dome with a 24ft finial.The house has never been finished due to the civil war.The basement level was the only part of the house finished and where the family lived.Haller died in1864and left his wife and 8 children in dire needs.The house was never finished.Every thing was left as is when men went off to fight the war. 

The 3rd house was Rosalie but we got there to late to take the tour.There was also the Annual Balloon fest going on right next to this home.We really enjoyed what we saw of Natchez and hope to return someday.