11 Most Endangered

Natchez

Year Listed: 1994
Location: Natchez , Mississippi
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development

An historic mansion in Natchez, Mississippi.

Credit: David Preziosi

Significance

In its heyday, Natchez was one of the wealthiest towns in the antebellum South. The legacy of that era is the treasure-trove of great architecture that draws a quarter-million tourists annually, many of them flocking to the famed Pilgrimage, a seven-week extravaganza of house and garden tours. After riverboat gambling was legalized in Natchez in 1990, city leaders wisely adopted a plan to control gaming-related development that might occur. But in the 1990s, disregarding that plan, they gave preliminary approval to construction of a massive 10-story structure, comprising a hotel and 850-car parking garage, that loom over the riverfront Under-the-Hill Historic District and would have spoiled the view of the Mississippi River bluffs atop which the city stands. Residents fear that this will be just the beginning, and that additional inappropriate development will accomplish what wars, floods and economic hard times were never able to do: scar the beautiful face of historic Natchez.

Updates

In the late 1990s, erosion was perhaps the biggest threat posed to the City of Natchez and to the Natchez bluffs. Working cooperatively with the Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the City of Natchez stabilized the bluffs, halting erosion which would certainly have destroyed a view of the Mississippi River some describe as "being second to none." Since that time, municipal government has proposed selling the publicly owned portion of the Spanish Promenade for development as condominiums. Laid out by the Spanish in 1790, this area of bluff top is certainly among the oldest undeveloped public spaces in America.

Following a decision by the Mississippi SHPO's Board of Trustees' to deny the necessary permit, condominium advocates withdrew this proposal. Discussion to develop the bluffs continue however, as construction of an overlook, planned for the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, is in the early stages of design. Plans for the overlook have received approval by the local historic preservation commission, although the final decision will rest with the MS-SHPO Board of Trustees who has expressed reservation with the proposal.