Natchez: Home of Many Antebellum Mansions

Natchez – a little town in Mississippi, between Vicksburg and New Orleans. Natchez once was a wealthy, important place at the Mississippi River; nowadays the magnificent old mansions from those days are well worth seeing. Natchez was spared the destruction of the Civil War and many old buildings are preserved. Some of them can be visited.

Natchez – Where It Is and How to Reach

Natchez is located between Vicksburg and New Orleans. Natchez is 120 km from Vicksburg on highway 61. Driving along that highway made me, once more, aware of the fact of how huge this country is and how vast the areas are. Highway 61 is not 100% straight but it definitely feels like driving 120 km just straight and totally remote, simply in the middle of nowhere. There is basically nothing on this route, not even traffic. Every now and then you meet another vehicle or drive through a little village.

After Natchez the route leads to Baton Rouge or New Orleans. To Baton Rouge it’s another 150 straight on highway 61. It takes 1 ¾ hours. How it feel to drive there, does not generally change. You are still on a rather empty road and just drive straight. Every now and then you see a little village or a gas station. The highway is sometimes closer and sometimes a little more distant to the Mississippi River. Occasionally, you are in the Mississippi Delta and see all the fields and huge lands, the largeness and extensiveness of Mississippi and Louisiana.

In Baton Rouge, it is possible to drive faster again. You can take interstate 10 and go directly to New Orleans.

Antebellum Era

Many antebellum buildings in Natchez are in downtown. You can park parallel to the river at Broadway Street. From there, you can easily walk or take a bicycle. Natchez has little golden markers on the ground, these markers show the best ways. There are five trails that lead through town. Two of them start at Broadway Street and go through Natchez downtown. On these two routes you will definitely see more antebellum mansions than anywhere else.

There is also car tour through the city. All these routes can be found on the website of the Natchez Visitor Center or you just follow the golden marks on the ground.
Twelve buildings in Natchez are open to public. The most famous one are: Longwood, Rosalie Mansion and Stanton Hall. Natchez advertisement says they have more than 600 antebellum houses in town. I did not count but after a walk in the magnificent Natchez downtown, I have to say: they definitely have many, many beautiful buildings.

We could not visit any of these building because we were there on a Sunday morning and everything was closed. If you want to see a building from the inside, check its opening hours before. Not all buildings are open daily.

In the suburbs of Natchez, there is Melrose Plantation. A report about that plantation can be found here.

Is Natchez Worth a Visit?

To see Natchez, you need to take a long detour. The fastest route from Vicksburg to New Orleans is on interstate 55 (330 km, 3 ¼ hours). But you will only see an interstate and nothing else.

On the highway route mentioned above, you can see Natchez and Baton Rouge. It takes one more hour to do that (400 km, 4 ½ hours). But you can stop several times on the route, also in Natchez. Once you decide to do Natchez, it does not make sense to go back to interstate 55 because 55 is further east than highway 61 and Natchez. You need to decide in advance if you want to reach New Orleans as fast as possible or take a more scenic route that offers more attractions but takes longer.

Once you choose the highway route, I definitely recommend spending some time in Natchez. It’s a very nice town, many old houses, beautiful architecture, everything in walking distance and very few people everywhere. I would always take the scenic route and stop in Natchez, even though you need to drive longer.

Information about how to combine that route can be found here.

Information about Plantations in Vacherie and the Melrose Plantation can be found here.

Information about New Orleans can be found here.

Information about Vicksburg can be found here.