Rounding out my tour of the city of Natchez, I started the day by visiting Magnolia Hall, a Greek Revival mansion built in 1858, and is the last of the antebellum houses built (and completed) in Natchez. It features a large portico front and back, each established by large Ionic columns. The house's history includes a stint as a school, during which much of it's fixtures were sold off, walls moved/removed, and the ceiling was lowered.
Fortunately, details of the house and it's original furnishings were documented well enough for it to be restored in much of it's original condition, and the ceilings, adorned with plaster arabesques of magnolias, from where it received it's name, were still in good condition after the drop ceiling was removed. The lower level is well furnished with period pieces, while much of the upper level houses various historical documents and relics from the city, including a museum of the Natchez Tableaux.
Before I got in my car, I took a quick picture of another house nearby that I liked.
Scenic Drive #114 - Natchez Trace Parkway
Wrapping up my time in Natchez, I decided to continue my diversion north, up the Natchez Trace a little bit, following part of Scenic Drive #114. The Natchez Trace Parkway (and the scenic drive named after it) stretches from Natchez to Nashville, but my general westerly direction of travel kept me from taking it the whole way, but for a taste of it, I decided to follow it to Rocky Creek, then cut north to Vicksburg, allowing me to visit the first 6 locations on the 21 stop route (the first of which is the city of Natchez itself).
Emerald Mound
The first stop out of Natchez is Emerald Mound, the second largest temple mound in the US, covering eight acres of what was a natural hill. Rather than the rounded mounds that indian tribes made for burials around the country, temple mounds are flat topped, and were used for temples and ceremonial structures. The 35 foot tall Emerald Mound was built by the Mississippians, who occupied the Mississippi River Valley from the 800's to the 1500's, and were ancestors to many of the more modern native tribes. Originally, it would have been surmounted by several smaller mounds, but only one 30 foot secondary mound remains, while the rest of the mound is a flat plateau.
Mount Locust
Port Gibson
Port Gibson's claim to fame is that Ulysses S. Grant considered it "too beautiful to burn." Like Natchez, it features many antebellum buildings and homes, and it is a cute little town, but when I got there, I realized I'd missed the turn off for the Windsor Ruins, so I decided to back track a little for it, and as a result, didn't take many pictures of Port Gibson, though it didn't feel quite as photogenic as Natchez.
Windsor Ruins
Windsor was the largest antebellum house in Mississippi. It was raised in 1861 at a cost of $175,000 (roughly the modern equivalent of $4.5M), and was used in the Civil war as an observation post for the Confederates, and then as a hospital for the Union Army, and made it through the war unscathed. In 1890, a carelessly placed cigar started a blaze that burned the house from top to bottom, razing it to the ground, leaving only 23 of the original 29 massive 45 foot Corinthian columns, constructed of bricks made on site, then finished in mortar and plaster, and capped with iron capitals. The shell of the building that remains is so grandiose that walking among them made me wonder if the building in it's full glory would have been as impressive.
Owens Creek Waterfall
Passing back through Port Gibson, I returned to the Natchez Trace, heading toward Rocky Springs. On the way, I pulled off to check out a turnout, and found Owens Creek Waterfall. Owens Creek has mostly dried up due to the water table dropping, but still flows when it gets rain. Though there wasn't a lot of water flowing, there was enough of a trickle to make it a pleasant place to explore.
Rocky Springs
Rocky Springs is considered a ghost town, though what's left of it makes that a questionable designation for two very different reasons. The town was founded in the 1790's, and grew to a population of 2616 in 1860. Traces of the town are minimal - a couple of rusted out safes from the merchants and post office and some cisterns are the only obvious signs that there once was a town amongst the woods, and even the spring that's it's namesake has dried up. 
In stark contrast to this lack of structure, there is one building standing - built in 1837, the Rocky Springs United Methodist Church and it's graveyard has been maintained, and continued to be used for regular services through June 27, 2010. Due to the dwindling congregation, they now only meet there for an annual home coming on the 3rd Sunday of April, and they created a non-profit organization to care for the church.
Vicksburg National Military Park
I arrived at Vicksburg National Military Park with just enough time to check out the visitor center, buy a very informative cd guide to provide information as I drove around the battlefield, and to make it almost all the way around before sunset. There are numerous memorials, cannon, a house, an ironclad ship, and a graveyard to see on the 16 mile tour road. Since I was rushed, I decided to spend the night in town and revisit the park the next day.
La Quinta
After leaving the park, I ate dinner at a Cracker Barrel, then decided to stay at a La Quinta for the night, since it was close to the park.
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