Our road to Vicksburg Mississippi ran partially along the Nachez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace Parkway runs along the original Natchez Trace an early trading route between Nashville Tennessee and Natchez Mississippi. We are going to see just a mere thirty miles or so.
But we got to visit a couple interesting sites along the route.
But before we left Natchez, we wanted to see the Melrose, which is the Mansion operated by the National Park Service, and they say it’s the best of them all.
Ever heard of Melrose China? This is where the pattern came from.
Well, it wasn’t to be as this one is not open on Mondays……. Staffing issues…..
Our first Parkway stop was at Emerald Mound.
Emerald Mound is the second largest Temple Mound in the country. It was built by the Mississippians the ancestors of the Natchez Indians. Even today this is sacred ground for the Natchez, the Chickasaw, and the Choctaw Indians who return for a yearly pow wow.
This parkway would be a beautiful drive in the fall. We did see some beginning yellowing of some leaves so it could be imagined what it might look like in a few weeks.
Our next stop was at the Windsor Ruins. Windsor was constructed in 1861 by Smith Coffee Daniell II at a cost of 5.6 million dollars in today’s money. It was the largest Greek Revival Mansion built in the Antebellum South. The house survived the Civil war, it was at the time, on the Mississippi so it’s belfry was used as a watchtower. Sadly, it burnt to the ground in 1890. It originally had 29 Corinthian Columns of which 23 survive today. The house is at Bruinsburg where Grant’s forces crossed the Mississippi and began the campaign against Vicksburg.
See where the concrete is coming off the columns? It is brick underneath. As the columns deteriorate, they are becoming weak. The Mississippi Preservation Dept has a 3.7-million-dollar restoration underway to preserve the ruins. Because of that it was fenced off so we could only view it from the parking area and not wander among the columns. It is a National and State Historical Site.
And then we arrive!
Tomorrow is going to be a great day!
Old Man Wandering 