According to an 1834 description of the building, the slave market was “a cluster of rough wooden buildings, in the angle of two roads,” with “a wide gate” leading into a narrow courtyard, “partially enclosed by low buildings.” The slave market operated more as a store than an auction as planters and their representatives usually made single purchases rather than attending large auctions as was common in larger cities like New Orleans.&nbsp;The auction was demolished in 1863 and later became the site of a labor camp for former slaves. An African American Union regiment was also formed at this location, demonstrating the rapid shift from slavery to freedom through military service that would inspire the 14th and 15th Amendments which extended citizenship to all native-born Americans and voting rights for all men regardless of race.

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After 1833, the sale of slaves was not allowed within Natchez city limits. In response, slave traders established a market for the sale of human beings at this site, known at the time as "The Forks in the Roads. Operating more like a store than an auction house, the market was shut down by Union troops during the Civil War. The site became a "contraband camp" in the final years of the war, the name given to former slaves by the Union Army who utilized these individuals for their labor. In exchange for that labor, the Union provided modest wages and protections from re-enslavement.

Forks in the Road Slave Market Site

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The tour includes landmarks and historic sites throughout Natchez related to African American history including former plantations, the home of influential author Richard Wright, the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, and the site of a former slave market.

&nbsp;Richard Wright was born on a plantation in&nbsp;Mississippi in 1908. At a young age, his single mother suffered a stroke&nbsp;and Wright was forced to leave school after ninth grade to help provide for his family. This never discouraged his enthusiasm to continue his education outside of school during his free time. He had his early articles published at the age of 16.&nbsp; As a young man, he left the south for work in Chicago. His writing continued to flourish outside of work and he eventually left Chicago for New York to further his dreams. His move and hard work paid off, within a year he was recognized as an author and began making a profit from his work.&nbsp;Richard's book, Native Son, became the first book written by an African-American to be picked as the Book-of-the-Month-Club and later turned into a film version, starring Wright himself.&nbsp; After his publication of Black Boy&nbsp;in 1945, Wright's reputation further soared. He had lived in Mexico and decided to move his family to Paris, where he finished out the rest of his years. Richard continued releasing novels until his death in 1960.

This is the childhood home of Richard Wright, the African-American author of books such as Uncle Tom's Children and Black Boy. Richard is a historical figure in America who overcame being born on a plantation, living in an unstable childhood, and growing up with a sickly mother. His dreams of becoming an author began at a young age and manifested his success to an honorable status as an African-American artist. His childhood home, which is now a historic landmark, can be viewed by the public in Natchez, MS. This historic marker is located near the highway that leads into town, Natchez Park Parkway, which also contains a portion named after Wright, in his honor. The early home of Richard Wright gives it's viewers a look into the past of this legendary American author and where he first began writing. 

Richard Wright Historic Marker and Home 

The House on Ellicott's Hill has had many&nbsp;tenants&nbsp;over the years. Though James Moore owned the property, his wife preferred living at their Oakland Plantation better. As a result, James Moore&nbsp;rented out the home to Samuel Brooks, a member of a wealthy New England family and the cousin and future&nbsp;President John Adams. Samuel Brooks rented the home from Moore from February 1801 until 1807 or 1808. Brooks was a prominent personality in Natchez and served as the town's first mayor. He was also the state's first treasurer when he passed away in&nbsp;1817 while serving as the first State Treasurer. The next person that&nbsp;Moore rented the house to was&nbsp;Dr. Frederic Seip, who ended up buying&nbsp;the house from Moore in 1816. After Seip passed away in&nbsp;1819, his wife and son continued to live in the home until 1825. The next owner was&nbsp;Orlando Lane, who bought the home in order to rent the property to others, which he did over a number of decades until he sold the property in&nbsp;1850. These families lived among enslaved persons who served the families and contributed to their wealth and status in antebellum Natchez.&nbsp; The house was later purchased by Presbyterians who converted the home into a private academy for young men. This boarding school closed in 1878 and the building served as housing for workers at a nearby cotton mill.&nbsp;During the 1920s, the mills were&nbsp;abandoned and the house stood vacant until 1934 when the Natchez Garden Club bought it. In 1935, the club hired New Orleans architect&nbsp;Richard Koch to renovate the house. The Preservation Society of Ellicott Hill acquired the property from the club in 1976. In recent years, the home has been restored and is open for tours.&nbsp;

Built during the years of 1797 and 1801, the House on Ellicott Hill belonged to Merchant planter James Moore. The home dates back to the actions of US military officer Andrew Ellicott who arrived in Natchez to survey the area according to the terms of the Treaty of San Lorenzo. Ellicott defied Spanish officials by raising the American flag on this hill. Construction of this home followed soon after and also served as a signal that Americans intended to control the area prior to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. 

House on Ellicott's Hill

Built between 1851-1858, the Smith-Buntura-Evans House served as both residential and commercial property for Robert D. Smith. Overlooking the Mississippi River, this two-story brick building once served as a carriage service. Smith was a free Black citizen and entrepreneur living in Natchez which was&nbsp;home to a small number of former slaves prior to the war.&nbsp; After the completion of the residence, Smith brought aboard a subsequent owner by the name of Joseph Bontura. He opened the living quarters to the public and used it as an inn as well as adding the cast iron balconies to accommodate visitors with viewing the Mississippi.&nbsp;The house was later bought by Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Evans and entertained notable people such as Mark Twain and Stephen Foster. After their ownership, the house was momentarily viewed to the public as a museum until it's privately owned purchase to H. Hal Garner and Dr. Harold Hawkins.&nbsp;

This historic two-story brick house was once built in the 1850s for the family of Robert D. Smith, a free Black businessman who operated a livery service that transported residents throughout the city in the years leading up to the Civil War. The back of the house features the original wide arch openings and the front contains a two-story cast iron porch that was added in the 1890s. The Smith-Buntura-Evans House is a rare surviving residential architecture from the 1800s and a reminder  of the role that a small but historically significant number of Black business owners played in the late antebellum period.  

Smith-Buntura-Evans House

William Johnson was emancipated by his slave owner when he was a child and he became the apprentice of a freed Black barber, James Miller. William's success grew as he owned and operated three barbershops in the city of Natchez. This businessman and entrepreneur became wealthy and lived his life under a fine line comparable to that of white citizens. William, himself, owned slaves that also helped in his businesses.&nbsp; Johnson kept a daily diary for sixteen years,&nbsp;beginning in 1835 and ending with his&nbsp;<div>death in 1851. This diary followed the life of a free man of color,with daily entries about being&nbsp;&nbsp;a family man of ten children, his daily outdoor activities,&nbsp;and also told what it was like being a successful businessman.&nbsp; William Johnson built a three story brick house in Natchez, MS where he moved his large family into in 1841. The downstairs space was occupied by commercial property, quarters for his servants, and housed livestock on the property. After his death, his family continued living in the house and eventually was purchased by the National Park Service in 1990.&nbsp;</div>

William Johnson was a born slave in Mississippi who was later freed by his owner and became an apprentice to a Black barber. William became a wealthy businessman and entrepreneur who later owned slaves himself. After his death, his diary was discovered which told the day in the life of being a wealthy Black man in Mississippi. This historic house is located in downtown Natchez and once housed Johnson's large family and servants. The property also once was occupied by businesses downstairs and livestock in the back. Now a historic museum and restored, viewers can relive a day in the life of William Johnson and get a glimpse into house he once wrote about. 

William Johnson House

The post office was built around 1904. It is not clear how long it operated but the museum was founded in 1991 by Mary Lee Toles, who was the first African American judge in the city. The museum highlights the lives of several prominent local African Americans. One is that of the slave Abdul Rahman, who was freed by President John Quincy Adams after 40 years and resettled in Africa. Author Richard Wright, as noted above, was born here and he would go on to become an internationally recognized writer. Another famous individual and Natchez native was signer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, who earned the nickname "Black Swan." The life and legacy of local pastor Rev. Hiram Rhodes Revels is explored as well. Rhodes became the first African American in Congress and he was later elected as U.S. Senator in 1870.

Located in the former United States Post Office building, the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture celebrates the rich history of the local African American community from 1716, the year Natchez was established to today. The museum's exhibits explore a variety of topics including the Rhythm Nightclub fire, one of the deadliest fires in American history (200 people were killed), the Three Forks Slave Market (the second largest slave market in the South), and the life and legacy of author Richard Wright, who was born here. Many items are on display including photographs, personal belongings, books, works of art, and a wide range of artifacts. 

Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture

By 1785, several boatmen called the “Kaintucks” travelled
down the Mississippi River as a route to sell products in Natchez and New
Orleans, but they could not find a good way to travel back up the river to go home
so they travelled north on foot along the Natchez Trace. This path led them
right to Mount Locust; these travelers and more led William and Pauline
Ferguson to open the home as a small inn. A significant corn crop allowed the
Fergusons to feed their guests with corn mush and milk; places to sleep were
created on the porches and grounds. As the Fergusons started to gain money, a
four room, two story annex was built on the grounds and called Sleepy Hollow. The
new building was unlike anything already built and available along the Natchez
Trace. Guests were expected to pay 25 cents for their stay here.

After William Ferguson died in 1801, Paulina married James
Chamberlain who also passed on in the years after 1810. Despite becoming a
widow for the second time and having 11 children between both husbands, Paulina
continued to manage Mount Locust with the help of her children. The plantation
and inn allowed the family to live in a financially stable state. By the middle
of the 1820s the Natchez Trace was no longer needed by travelers thanks to the
development of the steamboat and more roads. Therefore, after 1825, the inn
provided an escape for those living in Natchez. Throughout her life, Paulina
worked a corn farm that became a significant cotton planation; she passed away
in 1849. After the Civil War, Mount Locust’s significance to the community started
to fall with the end of the plantation system. 

With the plantation system style practiced on Mount Locust came
the presence of slaves on the property. By 1820 the census stated that 26
slaves were present on the property and by the mid-1800s there were 51.
Archeologists claim that 12 to 16 slave quarters existed at Mount Locust, with
4 to five slaves living in each quarter. On the west end of the property, a
cemetery hosts the resting place of 43 slaves who worked on the property. There
is a marker that records the names of the slaves thought to be buried there and
one headstone labels the site. The Ferguson-Chamberlain family cemetery is located
on the southwest end of the property. 

In 1905 the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution
decided they needed to preserve the history of the Natchez Trace, and from 1908
to 1933 they built monuments in every county in the state that hosted part of
the route. The 15 monuments that were built garnered a significant amount of
media attention and heightened people’s interest in the area. In 1938, Congress
made the Natchez Trace Parkway part of the National Park Service; the road
preserves the history of the Natchez Trace by including parts of the old road,
buildings, and landmarks. People visiting Mount Locust can take a tour of the
grounds and view the slave and family cemeteries. Visitors can also see where
slaves worked and can catch a glimpse of the people who stayed here whether
during their travels or their vacations.

The Mount Locust Inn and Plantation was built in 1780 and is one of the most ancient homes still in existence in the Natchez community. The house was bought by William and Pauline Ferguson in 1784 after the original owner was imprisoned after failing to carry out a successful rebellion against the Spanish. After William died in 1801 Paulina married another man by the name of James Chamberlain, and together they maintained the plantation and house until he too died after 1810. Five generations of the family lived here until 1944. The inn served as a resting place for several people passing through the area, allowed for an escape for the people of Natchez, and relied on the service of many slaves. In 1954, the National Park Service started to remodel the home to make it resemble its former 1820 design.

Mount Locust Inn & Plantation

On April 23, 1940, 209 African Americans died in a fire at the Rhythm Night Club. the death toll includes civic and cultural leaders who joined community members to enjoy a special one-night engagement of Chicago's Walter Barnes Orchestra of Chicago. The club regularly featured musicians who traveled between Chicago and New Orleans and across the South on what was known as the "chitlin' circuit" a nickname for a network of Black-owned clubs where African American musicians performed to mostly Black audiences.  Ed Frazier, the owner of the Rhythm Night Club, anticipated a record crowd when he booked Walter Barnes for a special show as they made their way home to Chicago in the spring of 1940. Barnes, who was originally from Vicksburg, Mississippi, was a contemporary of Duke Ellington. His band, known as the Creolians, had not achieved the same status as Ellington’s orchestra, but they were very popular and recorded music for Brunswick Records. The Rhythm Night Club was a large structure with external frames and roofed with corrugated metal. To celebrate Barnes' arrival, Frazier decorated the club with lights and Spanish moss. To kill the bugs that burrowed in the moss, Frazier used a petroleum-based insecticide known as “Flit” and applied to the decoration. he also added fans to relieve the heat he expected the large crowd might generate. Both of these measures, combined with the decision to board up the windows of the club, contributed to the disaster that was about to occur.  Word of Walter Barnes' arrival spread through the Black community of Natchez. As a businessman, Frazier wanted to make sure he took in every penny and boarded the windows to make sure everyone who wanted to see and listen to the show paid the price of admission. Although the concert was scheduled on a Tuesday evening, more than 700 people paid to hear Walter Barnes’ orchestra. The audience included many teenage students and their teachers from Brumfield High School. The audience enjoyed the first hours of the show and danced to the music until late in the evening. Sometime around midnight, a fire that had broken out close to the club’s front entrance began to spread through the club. Within minutes the place was in flames by the flammable insecticide that covered the Spanish moss created both fire and smoke that was spread by the fans.  As always happens in a fire like this, the crowd panicked and many people were hurt as they tried to reach the exit. Some tried in vain to tear down the boarded-up windows before they were overtaken by smoke. The front doors were the only viable exit but because they opened inward, the push of the crowd prevented their opening fully and effectively. Hundreds of panicked concert-goers were trapped as the club turned into a furnace.By the time the fire department arrived and extinguished the inferno, 209 people were dead. Many of the victims were in their teens and the majority died from asphyxiation. Others were trampled to death amid the stampede to exit the club. The remaining victims were burned beyond recognition. Among the dead were Ed Frazier, Walter Barnes, and many members of Barnes' band. Nearly every African American family in Natchez lost at least one of their family members in the tragic blaze. The Red Cross worked to help the survivors and recovery efforts included acts of interracial collaboration. The streets of the city were packed as funeral processions made their way through the streets of Natchez. In Chicago, more than 15,000 mourners attended the funeral for bandleader Walter Barnes.

One of the deadliest fires in American history occurred at this location on April 23, 1940. On that fateful evening, a crowd of around seven hundred people packed Natchez's Rhythm Night Club to listen to a famous bandleader who was set to play one night only as he made his way back to Chicago. In hopes of maximizing his income and preventing anyone from getting a free show, the manager of the club boarded up the windows and doors. As a result, the only way in or out of the club was through the front door. At that time, the club had been decorated with Spanish moss which hung from the rafters, but in order to kill the bugs that were known to live in the moss, it was sprayed with a petroleum-based insecticide called Flit. Tragically, the treated moss was flammable and helped spread a fire that killed 209 people.  Many of the victims were buried in a mass grave at a cemetery on the outskirts of town. At the time, the fire was the second deadliest building fire in the United States.

Rhythm Night Club Fire, 1940

Haller Nutt purchased the 90-acres of&nbsp;land that Longwood stands on in 1850 as a surprise gift for his wife, who grew up in the area and wanted to raise her children there. They first built a colonial style home on the property, but eventually tore it down in order to build the Oriental villa.&nbsp; Philadelphia Architect Samuel Sloan and his crew had been working on the house for about 18 months when the Civil War broke out in 1861. They all immediately headed back north in order to join the Union war efforts, consequently, putting Longwood's construction on hold.&nbsp; Nutt moved his family into the finished basement floor of the home and awaited the war's end. Though Nutt was a southern plantation owner, like many plantation owners, he was a Union sympathizer since much of the business tended to come from the North. He was given protection papers, stating that his property would not be harmed during the period of combat, but unfortunately, that agreement was not honored by the Union soldiers. Nutt's cotton fields were burned and much of his equipment destroyed.&nbsp; Since he lost the majority of his fortune in the war, some believe that his death in 1864 due to&nbsp;&nbsp;pneumonia, was actually because&nbsp;of a&nbsp;broken heart since he would never be able to complete his dream home. For this reason the Natchez locals refer to Longwood as "Nutt's Folly."

Built in 1860 by cotton plantation owner Haller Nutt, Longwood is the largest octagonal mansion in the nation. The house was designed by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan in the Oriental Revival Style. Upon completion, the mansion was  to total 30,000 square feet with 32 rooms, 26 fireplaces, 115 doors, and 96 columnns. However, due to the beginning of the Civil War, construction of the home was paused and Nutt settled with his wife on the basement level of the home as they awaited the war's end. Only nine of the planned rooms were ever finished. Longwood is listed as a Registered National Historic Landmark, a Mississippi Landmark, and an historic site on the Civil War Discovery Trail.

African American historic sites in Natchez Mississippi

Forks in the Road Slave Market Site

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information