Natchez, Mississippi

Yesterday we traveled from Dallas to Natchez. Actually, we are staying in a campground called Riverview RV Park in Vidalia, La. which is literally at the foot of the bridge going from Ms to La.The park is on the banks of the Mississippi River. Yes, we are directly in the path of Isaac but are leaving tomorrow for Jackson,Ms about 100 miles north east of here. We are in hopes of staying about 1 1/2 days ahead of the storm. Well enough of that.

Today, we went to the welcome center in Natchez and watched a film about the city and area. After that we toured the city and looked at the many ante-bellum homes. There are many,many of them.We looked at the most spectacular homes and took pictures of all of them. We learned a lot about the city because we saw it 14 times. You ask why? It's because almost all of the streets are one way. It is very difficult to get around but there are so many beautiful old homes. We were shocked at how many we're for sale. We inquired and were told most of the industry had left and many home owners simply couldn't  afford to maintain their homes. We took a break and went to quaint little coffee shop and had a fabulous breakfast at lunch time.

In the afternoon we toured we think the most phenomenal and storied home in Natchez. It is called Longwood , a 30,000 square foot home on 90 acres. It was built just before the beginning of the civil war by a very wealthy cotton man who owned 46,000 acres of land across the river and 800 slaves.  He and his wife hired an architect from Philadelphia who designed the home as the largest octagonal home in the U.S. The structure is composed of 750,000 bricks all made on site by the owner's slaves. The architect brought artisans from Philadelphia for the construction. The home was three floors with 10,000 square feet per floor and was topped with a beautiful dome. Now for the sad part. When the brick had all been done and the dome had been added, the civil war began and the architect and all the artisans literally dropped their tools on the floor and left back north thinking the war would be quick and they would return and take up where they left off. Well, the war lasted much longer and neither the architect nor artisans ever returned and to this day, the home has never been completed even though various descendants lived in the home until 1968.

The owner hired local workers to half-way complete the bottom floor which was actually the
basement so it would be livable for his wife and 8 children. How sad. Yes, it gets worse. Because of the shipping blockade during the war, the owner couldn't sell his cotton and went broke, losing all his land but only able to barely hang on to the home. With all the stress and a touch of pneumonia, he died at 46 making his wife a widow with 8 kids. Somehow the wife raised the kids in the house and educated them. Later, one of the adult kids who had moved away, came back at one point and paid $50 to save the home at a sheriff's sale.

The home is just as the workers left it except for the basement where the family lived. It is now owned by two garden clubs who maintain it and give tours for $12 per person. If you're ever in the area, we recommend you see this one.We took many pictures and wish we could upload them but can't figure out how to on the IPad.