re: Natchez MS: Opinions?

Natchez: in 1850 half of the millionaires in the US lived here
https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0322/032230.html

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The trade made possible by the river traffic brought much wealth to the region in the days when the Mississippi was the western frontier of the nation and cotton was king, Mrs. Colebank explained. Around 1850, half the millionaires in the United States lived here atop the Natchez bluffs. Today, 600 Natchez homes are in the National Register of Historic Places. There are more of these important buildings per square mile in Natchez than anywhere else in the country.

The architecture is interestingly varied (for instance, one home I saw belonged more to the Swiss or Austrian Alps). There is good reason for this. Many European sea captains who brought manufactured goods (and bricks, as ballast) to this town in exchange for cotton returned to settle here when their careers at sea were over. The descendants of these people are typically American , and their accents typically Southern. But the time was when many of the accents of Europe could be heard in Natchez's quiet streets, and this town was as international as any in the world.

There are magnificent views of the river from the Natchez bluffs, but these bluffs have far more significance to the town than that of providing scenic outlooks. They made possible the founding of Natchez as the first permanent European settlement on the over 3,000-mile-long river. The French, who controlled the Mississippi, considered that the northern stretches in Minnesota were too cold for permanent settlement and the south, around New Orleans, was too swampy. So they opted for the Natchez bluffs in 1716 - though La Salle had already given the site his blessing in 1682, 300 years ago last summer. The French called the place Fort Rosalie. The bluffs made it easy to defend and immune to flooding.

Natchez was once a town of two parts: elegant homes atop the bluffs and the shanties of the riverfront below them. The riverfront was still in its rough-and-tumble heyday when the cyprus frame building that now houses the restaurant was built a century ago.

Now the differentiation has gone. Fully two-thirds of the shantytown has fallen to the relentless erosion of the river, and what is left has been restored and smartened up. There is too much history and atmosphere here along the riverbank to let it fall into decay.

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Everything is walkable except coming back from under the hill saloon.

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Years ago, I remember walking down and up that hill one night about 20 times chasing some cute Mississippi gal. I couldn't feel my legs the next day.

It has some good restaurants and couple bars. Lots of history and some cool antebellum homes

I’m not sure what living there is like. It’s probably better than most delta towns where I live but you’ll still have similar problems with poverty and all in some areas

follow up bump:

spent this past weekend there, stayed at a VRBO 1880s-era cottage on Canal St

visited Melrose, had a picnic on the grounds at Rosalie (lunch courtesy of the Pig Out), spent a couple hours wandering thru the cemetery

had Friday lunch at the Brewing Co, (beer and pizza were top notch, and enjoyed hanging with the cats), had dinner at Camp (wife didn’t care for their fried shrimp but rest of the meal was decent) the first night and Magnolia Grill the second (pork medallions were fantastic, as was the chicken alfredo)

highlight for me was the “ghost tour”, which i thought would be a walk through downtown - turned out it was a lengthy visit to one of the old homes led by its 95-year-old resident whose family had owned it since the late 19th century, we had an absolute blast drinking her wine and listening to her wild stories - wife even got some photographic evidence of paranormal phenomena

wanted to hit Under the Saloon, Smoots, visit Longwood, the Windsor Ruins and Rodney but ended up running out of time (and energy, wife was fighting a nasty cold)

best part was the people - i’m well acquainted with Southern hospitality but literally every person we encountered went out of their way to make us welcome, really a tourist-friendly place

thanks again for all the recs, we will be returning soon

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some photographic evidence of paranormal phenomena

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can we see the pic (s)?

Cute town, a little sleepy but still has some options for fun, great food, no jobs.

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Was this Mrs Benson at D’evereux?

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no, it was Mrs Marjorie Field Meng at Glenfield:

Ghost Tours @ Glenfield

i’ll see if i can post the pics later today