Great place to visit to learn about history in the south. Location is near othr attractions. Great place to visit.
After seeing the grand homes of the wealthy, its nice to see the home of a black barber in town. His story is told well in the lower level and the upstairs living quarters show how the family lived. At the larger homes we heard about the rich people and their slaves, here we hear about a black man and his customers all told and illustrated in his journals.
Interesting property but the tour guide liked to put his arms around people and whack them on the shoulder to make a point. Doing it once was a surprise but he kept doing it until it distracted from what he said. He knew his facts for the most part and was enthusiastic but people who don't want anyone invading their personal space were feeling uncomfortable. The old home, Melrose, is undergoing a rehab right now. It's not as grand as some of the other homes we toured, but the setting is lovely and tour prices were less than those charged by other properties. Senior citizen discount was nice.
Have never seen so many historic homes in one place. For blocks almost every home is pre civil war (antebellum). From what I understand the Union army did not burn Natchez since they already controlled the Mississippi River with the siege of Vicksburg. If you are a "Old South" lover you need to spend at least a couple of days here. Walking tour is worthwhile also.
Make sure you take the Ranger Tour of the Melrose Mansion. It's worth a trip to Natchez all by itself. The self-guided Johnson House was interesting, too. Parking is tight. The Fort Rosalie site is no longer available for viewing. This is a wonderful stop before starting out on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
This was one of the most beautiful roads, parks, and historic sites I have ever been!We are from the Rocky Mountains and so we wanted to experience the history of this area. I was surprised at how little this road and the Natchez Trace is advertised/promoted. Better for us I guess! We drive a 40 ft. Motor home and pull a car and were worried that we might have problems with our rig on this 2 lane road. Absolutely no problems! Just make sure there is a turned around at the places you choose to pull off! There are several camping areas along the 440 miles. There are some big enough for big rigs however because of the cold weather, we chose to exit the parkway to stay in rv parks along the way. Easy on and off places that put you right back to the real world! Such a peaceful, quiet, great road! Great historic stops! We will be back to drive this road in the fall. It must be breathtaking then!
Lovely old mansions under severe renovation during our visit. The gardens and location is excellent. There is also a wonderful old train engine on display. Loved all the history provided.
First of all there is the William Johnson House which is worth a stop. Many grand homes to view and of couse the Mississippi River bridges. The tourism center is also worth the time, as is the Natchez Indian Cultural Center.
While the mansion is undergoing exterior renovations, don't let that deter you from going and taking the tour inside. It is very well furnished and impressive to say the least, worth the cost of taking it. The tour guide we had was knowledgeable and interesting and it did take about 45 minutes for the tour. The grounds have some interesting outbuildings on it but compared to many of the plantations tours in the area and south to Baton Rouge, the grounds were rather plain.
Compared to other Natchez Mansions this was not as well presented as the private mansions. It was good, but the Mansion was under construction at the time and the tour was limited. We walked the grounds and seems like the lawn need to be mowed or maybe they wanted it to look like a pasture, which it did.