April Roadtrip, Day 6, Around Natchez

Day 6

Monday, April 6, 2026

     Just a few minutes from the hotel is the site of Fort Rosalia.  It was originally built in 1716 by the French, to protect settlers and traders.  Over time, it's changed hands multiple times.  Thirteen years after its establishment, The Natchez tribe overran the fort, killing all the men and capturing the women and children.  It didn't take long for the French to gather reinforcements to retake the fort.  The British would eventually control the fort before losing it to Spain over a border dispute.  

     Since I'm always looking for a good place to walk, I found a trail in Duncan Park.  It's an out and back that skirts the edge of the public golf course.  An easy mile and a half to start the day.

    The former Melrose Mansion is now part of the Park Service with regular tours.  John McMurran came to Natchez in 1824 and became a successful lawyer and cotton farmer.  On the backs of slave labor, he amassed enough money to built the estate.  The original lot was 132 acres. 

     The home was built and designed for one thing, to impress. 

    The building to its left was the kitchen, and housing for the slaves who worked in the house.  There's a bell on the front of the house and they were expected to be on call 24/7.  

     There's a memorial park in Natchez where the Fork in the Road Market used to stand.  Between 1833 and 1863, it was the second largest slave market in the nation.  Only New Orleans was bigger.  

     Slavery here goes back as far as 1719, when the area was controlled by the French.  There's no way to know just how many slaves were sold here since then.  Depending on the source, as many as two hundred thousand were sold over the thirty years Fork in the Road Market was open.

    Along Canal Street is where you'll find Bluff Park.  It dates back to the time Spain claimed ownership of Natchez. They used the same basic layout here as in the southwest.  They reset the roads to a grid and kept the park as a public space.

     Today, there's a massive wall holding it all up.

      Up above a long walkway overlooking the Mississippi River.

      Or, if you choose, you can walk down below.

     Of course a very late lunch at Natchez' one brewery... Great food and some excellent beer.

    It was 6P when I walked out of the brewery.  It's two blocks from the River Walk.  

     It was far too nice an evening to just head back to the motel.  So, I spent the next hour just walking end to end, watching the shadows lengthen and the sun go down.