Natchez National Historical Park commemorates the history of

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, ...

, and is managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

. The park consists of four separate sites: Fort Rosalie is the site of a former fortification from the 18th century, built by the French. It was later renamed Fort Panmure and controlled in turn by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The fort site is open to the public. The William Johnson House was the home of William Johnson, a 19th-century free African American

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

and resident of Natchez whose diary has been published.

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

was the estate of John T. McMurran, a lawyer, state senator, and planter who lived in Natchez from 1830 until the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

. Forks of the Road marks what was the second-busiest slave trading market in the Deep South between 1832 and 1863. This unit of the park opened in an official ceremony on June 18, 2021. Both Melrose and the William Johnson House contain furnishings related to life in

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...

Natchez and other exhibits. The collection at Melrose's two-story

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

and its

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

quarters include painted floor cloths,

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus '' Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: U ...

, a punkah, a set of Rococo Revival parlor furniture, a set of

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

dining room chairs, and bookcases with books dating to the 18th century. These were collected from Natchez families, including the McMurran family. The collection in the Johnson house includes furnishings from his life and family. Archaeological objects found in the park are also on display.

Legal history

The

National Historical Park National Historic Site (NHS) is a designation for an officially recognized area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject. The National Historic ...

was authorized on October 7, 1988 (, ). The William Johnson House was added to it on September 28, 1990 (, ). As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Fort Rosalie was already included in the National Register as part of the 1972 NRHP-listed

Natchez Bluffs and Under-the-Hill Historic District The Natchez Bluffs and Under-the-Hill Historic District is a historic district that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is roughly bounded by S. Canal St., Broadway, and the Mississippi River. The "Under-the ...

; the William Johnson House, at 210 State St., is a few blocks from the Fort Rosalie site and is both separately NRHP-listed and also included in the

Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District is a historic district in Natchez, Mississippi that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Important sites within the district include: *the location of Andrew Marschalk's pr ...

. Melrose is located about two miles southwest of Fort Rosalie.

References

* ''The National Parks: Index 2001–2003''. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

External links

* Official NPS website
Natchez National Historical Park
{{authority control National Historical Parks of the United States Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Historic house museums in Mississippi Protected areas established in 1988 Museums in Natchez, Mississippi African-American museums in Mississippi National Park Service areas in Mississippi Protected areas of Adams County, Mississippi 1988 establishments in Mississippi Houses in Adams County, Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Natchez, Mississippi Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Slave cabins and quarters in the United States