Mississippi Scenery

Before we leave Mississippi we wanted to include some various pictures of interesting things we saw.

Emerald Mound

Close to Natchez State Park where we were staying is an incredible Indian Mound. This mound is huge. When you look at the pictures it is hard to get a perspective so you need to look for the people in the pics and see how small they are in comparison.

Designated a National Historic Landmark, Emerald is one of the largest mounds in North America. Covering eight acres, Emerald Mound measures 770 by 435 feet at the base and is 35 feet high. The mound was built by depositing earth along the sides of a natural hill, thus reshaping it and creating an enormous artificial plateau. Two smaller mounds sit atop the expansive summit platform of the primary mound. The larger of the two, at the west end, measures 190 by 160 feet and is 30 feet high. Several additional smaller mounds were once located along the edges of the primary mound summit, but were destroyed in the 19th century by plowing and erosion. Emerald Mound, built and used during the Mississippian period between 1250 and 1600 A.D.,was a ceremonial center for the local population, which resided in outlying villages and hamlets. Its builders were ancestors of the Natchez Indians. By the late 1600s, the Natchez had abandoned Emerald and established their capital at the Grand Village some 12 miles to the southwest.

Emerald Mound Site, near Natchez Trace Parkway, is about 10 miles northeast of Natchez, Mississippi (milepost 10.3). Exit parkway at Rte. 553 intersection; follow signs to mound, about 1 mile. Open to the public daily, free of charge.

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/mounds/eme.htm

 

 

Dunleith

We took the tour of Dunleith and the house itself was beautiful but the tour was costly and only lasted about 20 mins and only included the first floor. This home hosts weddings and events and is privately owned and has a definite commercial feel. Our recommendation would be to walk around the gorgeous grounds for free where you can get the best pictures and save your money for the other Antebellum tours that have a wonderful historic feel and tons of information and are set up as museums.

 

The story of Dunleith:

 

"In the flourishing years before the Confederacy, a group of hard-driving Natchez planters harvested vast fortunes from their cotton fields and built glorious monuments to their prosperity and manner of life. Dunleith is a recognized signature of those times...the Golden Age of the South.

Situated on 40 acres of green pastures and wooded bayous, Dunleith has been honored by the Southern Heritage Society for its architectural grace and beauty."

—Doris Lockerman Kennedy, ed. Historic Houses of the South. p166.

Dunleith is an antebellum mansion in Natchez, Mississippi.^[4] The previous building, Routhland had been built by Job Routh and passed down to his daughter Mary Routh. When it was struck by lightning and burned down in 1855, her husband, General Charles G. Dahlgren rebuilt the home. It was sold for $30,000 in 1858 (equal to $805,846 today) to Alfred Vidal Davis who renamed it Dunleith. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.^[1][3][5]

The 26 room house sits on 40 acres (16 ha) along with several outbuildings including a carriage house, a dairy barn, a poultry house, and a three story brick building. The main building has a Greek revival design and includes 26 Tuscan columns built of brick and stucco. There are porches around the entire building on the first and second floor. The first floor includes windows similar to those in Monticello which roll up to become doorways.^[1]

The 1957 film, Raintree County was partly filmed at Dunleith, as was a portion of the 1974 version of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn by Columbia Pictures, and an episode of Promised Land for CBS television in 1998.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunleith

 

Longwood

Longwood

Dr. Haller Nutt already owned Winter Quarters in Louisiana, but wanted to build a dream home for his wife Julia. With the help of architect Samuel Sloan, he designed a beautiful and unique octagonal structure with an onion dome. The exterior was mostly finished, and the interior in rough form when the Civil War broke out. Northern craftsman working on the mansion left the work unfinished and set out for home fearing reprisals from those with southern sympathies.

The Nutt family lived in the unfinished basement for years though Nutt himself died shortly after the war started. Julia worked hard to raise their children after their fortunes was lost.

We took the tour which was fantastic....hard to explain and capture in pictures or words. When we were on our tour it was just the two of us and another nice couple from Mississippi. After talking with the couple we learned that they have an Antebellum home of their own that was going to be on the Pilgrimage tour this year and they were doing recognizant work to prepare. They told us all about their historic home. The man's family built it and had owned it for over 150 years! This encounter just made our tour even more authentic.

http://www.stantonhall.com/longwood.htm

I am going to include many photos because it is so amazing.

 

 

 

 

Stanton Hall, MS

In 1858, Fredrick Stanton built the home of his dreams for his family on his new property-an entire city block of Natchez Mississippi. The city block cost about 1,550. The house cost over $83,000 before it was even furnished. Carrera Marble, mahogany doors 2 1/2 inches thick, chandeliers from France, and Italian statuary appointed the interior. Huge Corinthian columns and granite steps adorned the facade.

Stanton came to America with his brothers in 1815. He made a fortune as a cotton broker, then as owner of more than $16,000 acres of cotton plantations. Ironically, he lived only one month after his dream home was finished.

It is currently owned by The Pilgrimage Garden Club who offered daily tours. We took this tour and it was fantastic. It is amazing that this home was built over 150 years ago and even now when you first lay your eyes on it, it takes your breath away with amazement at how beautiful it is.

http://www.stantonhall.com/

What we found amazing is that these huge old homes were bought in a state of disrepair and renovated by Women's Garden Clubs. Thank God for these brave women otherwise all the beautiful history would have been lost!

The Natchez Garden Club officially began in 1927 as an outgrowth of The Women’s
Club of Natchez. In the spring of 1931 the small (only 57 members) but very active club was making plans to host the state organization’s annual convention. The most anticipated activity was to be a tour of the many old-fashioned gardens which should have been at their most beautiful at that time of year. To the members’ dismay, a late freeze spoiled the beauty of the gardens, and they had to hastily arrange for their visitors to tour a number of the old houses instead. This turned into an unmitigated success.

And the rest, as they say, is history. From this grew the Natchez Pilgrimage, an annual tour of antebellum homes which continues to this day.

With the proceeds of Pilgrimage, the Natchez Garden Club initiated preservation efforts
in Natchez in 1935 with the purchase of a dilapidated property now known as the House on Ellicott Hill, making it the first architectural restoration preservation project by a private organization in the State of Mississippi. Along the way, it has assured the preservation of the William Johnson House, the Priests’ House, and Lawyers’ Lodge,
along with the House on Ellicott Hill and Magnolia Hall.

Because of these efforts along with those of the Preservation Society of Ellicott Hill, the Pilgrimage Garden Club, the Auburn Garden Club, the Historic Natchez Foundation, and the citizens, Natchez, Mississippi, is now noted as being one of the few places in the
entire United States where one can find over five hundred buildings constructed before
1860. And tourism is now the major economic engine of the city’s growth.

http://www.natchezgardenclub.com/History.html

 

Natchez State Park

While we were in Natchez, Mississippi to tour the Antebellum homes we stayed at a lovely state park about 10 miles out of town.

Natchez State Park is located just 10 miles north of historic Natchez, the oldest settlement on the Mississippi River. Prior to the Civil War, over half of the millionaires in the entire United States lived in Natchez, constructing elegant mansions unrivaled in size and elegance by any in the nation. Most of these splendid homes were spared during the Civil War, and many are now open for tours.

Natchez State Park is also famous in its own right. The largest bass in Mississippi history - a largemouth weighing 18.15 pounds - was caught in Natchez Lake in 1992.

 

http://www.stateparks.com/natchez_state_park_in_mississippi.html

 

USS Cairo Battleship

Part of the Vicksburg National Military Park is a fantastic museum on the USS Cairo Battleship. The battleship is displayed under  white tents and you can walk on board and get a great feel for what it must have been like to sail on her. Next to the battleship display is a great museum that has artifacts from the ship. This museum is new and built in a way that makes you feel like you are on board the actual ship while you look at the displays. No pictures are allowed in the museum so you will just have to visit to see the clever museum.

 

The U.S.S. Cairo, a noted Civil War ironclad,
is now preserved as part of a special display
on the northern edge of the battlefield. Once
a powerful Union vessel, she is remarkably
well preserved and offers visitors a unique
opportunity to actually step aboard a warship
that is more than 140 years old.

A "super weapon" of her time, the Cairo was
constructed as part of a plan by the Union to
develop a flotilla of ironclad gunboats that
would be used as both defensive and
offensive weapons on the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers.
http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vicksburg2.html

 

Vicksburg National Military Park

On the drive from Corinth, MS to Natchez, MS, we stopped at Vicksburg National Military Park. We watched the movie at the visitor's center then took a drive through the park. This park is under major renovations and is removing dense woodland cover to restore the grounds to the appearance of when the battle took place in 1863.

The Battle of Vicksburg took place on May 18, 1863, when General Ulysses S. Grant attempted to take over Vicksburg, MS, from the Confederate Army.

The drive through the park takes you by State Memorials. One half of the drive is the Union Memorials and the other half of the drive is the Confederate Memorials.

The National Park Website is very informative:

http://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm