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Natchez National Historical Park celebrates the rich cultural history
of Natchez, Mississippi and interprets the pivotal role the city played
in the settlement of the old southwest, the Cotton Kingdom and the Antebellum
South.
The Park is made up of three units, Fort Rosalie is the location of an 18th
Century fortification built by the French and later occupied by the British,
Spanish and Americans. The William Johnson House was a house owned by William
Johnson, a free African American businessman, whose diary tells the story
of everyday life in antebellum Natchez. Melrose was the estate of John T.
McMurran, a northerner who rose from being a middle class lawyer to a position
of wealth and power in antebellum Natchez. Melrose and the William Johnson
House are the only units currently open to the public.
European settlement of Natchez began with a French trading post in 1714.
Control passed to Spain in 1779 and to the United States in 1798. In the
decades before the Civil War, Natchez became a commercial, cultural, and
social center of the South's "cotton belt." The city today represents
one of the best preserved concentrations of significant antebellum properties
in the United States. Within the park are Melrose, an excellent example
of a planter's home, and the home of William Johnson, a free African-American
businessman, whose diary tells the story of everyday life in antebellum
Natchez.
Park visitors can enjoy guided tours of the Melrose mansion and self-guided
tours of grounds. Walking tours and living history events are also scheduled
throughout the year. |
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