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Natchez Name
Named for the Natchez Indians who inhabited this land.
Historical Significance of Natchez
Natchez is the oldest civilized settlement on the river - older by two years than New Orleans. It was inhabited for centuries by prehistoric Indians, and later by the Natchez Indians. It was settled first by the French in 1716, then the British in 1763, the Spanish in 1779, and finally by the Americans in 1798. It was then that Natchez became the first capital of the Mississippi Territory, and the first capital of the new state of Mississippi in 1817. The city boomed in the first half of the 19th century with the exportation, by steamboat, of tons of cotton.
Enormous fortunes were made from the natural resources of the land and the river.
Industry in Natchez
Oil and gas-related activities, forestry, agriculture, tourism and manufacturers such as International Paper, the Titan Tire Manufacturing Company, the Mississippi River Corporation, Schuller Manufacturing, Ethyl Petroleum Additives, J. M. Jones Lumber Company, Isle of Capri Casino, and others, are the major employers.
Natchez Landmarks
The Natchez Trace Parkway, a 450-mile national park, originates in Natchez and ends in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Natchez boast the largest collection of antebellum structures in the United States.
King's Tavern (Bledsoe House) is the oldest building in Natchez. Standing before 1789. Operated as a tavern, stage stop, and a mail station at end of Natchez Trace. (Historical marker located on Jefferson Street)
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Jefferson Street Methodist Church was the first Methodist congregation in Natchez formed in the early 1800s, and the 1st building was constructed in 1807. The 1st Sunday School south of Philadelphia, Pa., was organized here in 1829. (Historical marker located on Jefferson Street)
Holy Family Catholic Church dedicated on July 1, 1894 was the first Catholic church in the Mississippi valley with entire congregation of Afro-American descent. (Historical marker located on Orange Avenue)
Zion Chapel - A.M.E. Church was acquired 1868 by Zion Chapel whose minister Hiram Revels became the first black U.S. Senator and the first president of Alcorn State University. (Historical marker located on corner of North Pine and Jefferson)
In 1837 Natchez was designated the See of the Roman Catholic Church in Mississippi. In 1842 Bishop J.M. Chanche began construction of this structure (St. Mary's Cathedral) the only church built as a cathedral in Mississippi. (Historical marker located on Main Street)
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Evansview, an L-shaped structure formerly known as Bontura, was purchased in 1860 by Don Jose Bontura, a businessman from Portugal, who had a tavern in old Natchez-under-the-hill. The back section is Spanish, while the more decorative front is early nineteenth century.
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Texada is a typical Spanish house, which has been used as a residence, a tavern, a meeting place for the Territorial legislature, and an antique shop.
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Forks of the Road was the site of the South's second largest slave market in the 19th century. Enslaved people were also once sold on city streets and at the landing at Natchez Under the Hill. Natchez slaves were freed in July, 1863, when Union troops occupied the city. The Forks of the Road market then became a refuge for hundreds of emancipated people. (Historical marker located on St. Catherine Street)
Invention
The famous "Bowie Knife" was immortalized on a sandbar in Natchez.
General Natchez Trivia
Natchez is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River.
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Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Natchez was home to 11 millionaires (only 75 existed in America)
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Natchez is the most inland city visited by a first-class battleship, the USS Mississippi, built in 1909.
Prominent People in Natchez
Andrew Marschalk was the "father of Mississippi journalism." Printed first book in the state, 1799. Became first public printer and in 1802 founded famed newspaper, "Mississippi Herald." (Historical marker located on Franklin and North Wall Street)
* * * * Childhood home of noted American author Richard Wright, while he lived with his grandparents, Richard and Margaret Wilson in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Author of Native Son and Black Boy, Wright was born outside of Natchez in rural Adams County in 1908. He lifelong quest for freedom led him to Paris, France, where he died in 1960. (Historical marker located on Woodlawn Avenue)
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