Chugging up the Mississippi, we pulled into small town ports at St. Francisville and Natchez where we set our clocks back about 200 years to a time of plantations, cotton fields and the pleasant life before the great Civil War. At St. Francisville, we boarded our bus and visited Rosedown Plantation, Circa 1833, one of the South’s most intact manor homes. The 3,455 acres of Rosedown were formed from seven tracts of land that Daniel Turnbull and Martha Hill Turnbull purchased between 1829 and 1861.
The manor is a living picture of the old south. Mrs. Turnbull was quite a gardener and had her own greenhouse and acres of various ornamental gardens with azaleas, camellias, roses, and ornamentals. The entrance way is lined with 200-year-old oaks. It resembles the scene of “Run, Forrest, Run” in Forrest Gump. One of the pines on the property is 300 years old.
On the banks of the Mississippi in historic Natchez, we were whisked back in time with a tour of an historic Photograph Gallery in the Stratton Chapel Gallery in the First Presbyterian Church where vivid photographs displayed over 100 years of history. People of all ages and walks of life are depicted in the works of three photographers who captured scenes of the steamboats, parades, and rural life of that day.
Natchez is the oldest city on the Mississippi. Natchez was the home of many cotton traders and is a city of architectural wonders with designs ranging from Antebellum to Victorian and even Colonial. Over 200 perfectly preserved homes grace its streets. Taking advantage of its ideal location for trade, in 1850 Natchez had more millionaires per capita than any other city in America – including Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
At Baton Rouge, we discovered more of the region’s history. We toured the Louisiana State Museum dating back to the exploring days of DeSoto and Lasalle and into the modern era. We saw the Battle of New Orleans recreated on a screen and watched as Andrew Jackson and his rag-tag army sent the British running. We toured the impressive campus of LSU. Not many colleges have a 450-pound Bengal Tiger and a 500 acre lake on site.
