Few American cities offer an in-depth look at the lives of southerners like Natchez, Mississippi. Founded in 1716, Natchez is the oldest city on the Mississippi River, known for its rich history, well-preserved antebellum architecture, various cultures, and the home of the Natchez Indians. It was the first capital of the Mississippi Territory and a center for trade (both cotton and slaves) because of the Mississippi River.
Before the Civil War, Natchez, was a center of wealth and power, boasting the highest concentration of millionaires per capita in the U.S. It had both antebellum luxury and violence since it served as a center for both massive plantations and the second-largest slave market in the South, known as Forks of the Road. Tens of thousands of enslaved people were sold between 1810 and 1863, and the enslaved population vastly outnumbered the white population. The city also held the largest community of free people of color in Mississippi, including the prominent figure William Johnson [we didn’t learn about him while we were visiting since I only learned about him while writing this post].
Many of the plantation owners relocated here from the North and so were pro-Union when the war started. Because the city leaders voted against secession, the city was spared, and many of the mansions were used as headquarters for the Union army during the battle at Vicksburg just 72 miles north.
Under-the-Hill
The city had a split personality: the bluff of a refined, wealthy area on the high, bluff side of the river and Under-the-Hill area was home to the the rough-and-tumble businesses along the riverbanks made up of taverns, gambling, and brothels—and their patrons.
This was a notorious stop for riverboat men since it was a center for drinking, gambling, and prostitution; often it was called “Nasty Natchez”. Originally the area had a number of streets, but with the earth moving along the Bluff, now we’re down to just one main street.
If you’d like to know more about this area, this link will fill in the blanks and help you get to know Natchez better. It’s really interesting.
Ready for some more history?
From 1820 to 1860, Natchez was one of America’s wealthiest cities. Its cotton and slavery-based economy was at its height in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War.
For most of the 1800s, the prime mover of commerce and passengers on the Mississippi River was the steamboat, which was invented by Robert Fulton in 1807. The combination of the steamboat, the cotton gin, and improved strains of cotton seed ushered in the period of Natchez’s greatest prosperity.
In 1811, Robert Fulton and his partners launched the New Orleans, the first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River. It docked in Natchez for the first time on December 30, 1811. Thousands of people crowded the bluffs and the landing to greet the boat.
The most famous steamboat race in American history was the 1870 race from New Orleans to St. Louis between the Robert E. Lee and The Natchez. The Robert E. Lee completed the race in 3 days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes; a record that still stands.
Here’s some information from AI: “Steamboats on the Mississippi River saw their peak from roughly 1850 to 1870, with traffic beginning to decline in the 1870s due to railroad competition. While they remained present, they were virtually gone by 1920. Today, they are used primarily for tourist excursions and are not used for cargo.”
Per Wikipedia, the following picture shows how ornate these steamboats could be:
From Wikipedia: “Marie Adrien Persac (December 14, 1823 – July 21, 1873) was a French-born American fine art painter, cartographer, photographer, and art teacher. Persac watercolored south Louisiana plantation houses and other aspects of the Southern landscape, and his work has much importance to Southern historians. His work was often signed, A. Persac.“
Wikipedia tells us that “Steamboats played a major role in the 19th-century development of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, allowing practical large-scale transport of passengers and freight both up- and down-river.”
Back to AI information: “Decline [of steamboats on the Mississippi] (1870s-1900): Railroads became more efficient, causing a shift in passenger and freight traffic away from the river.”
I think I want to rewatch the 1994 movie Maverick to see other perspectives of these steamboats in the American Old West in the late 1800s.
Now back to Under-the-Hill
Keel-boats, flatboats, and steamboats docked at the bottom of the hill on the Natchez side of the river so those on the boats could walk up a steep hill and enjoy the “pleasure” businesses. Products made from the Natchez side of the river and products coming from the Natchez Trace trail would be loaded onto the boats to go south toward the Gulf to be transported where they could be used.
local restaurants we enjoyed
Our real dining highlight was Frankie’s on Main that we enjoyed after touring Stanton Hall (previous post).
Originally the restaurant was the Agricultural Bank that was built in 1826. With the wealth of the city, this 6 Doric columns and stucco exterior would seem welcoming to the wealthy plantation owners.
bank failure
Just before the beginning of the Civil War, the bank failed. Hmm, now I want to know why the bank failed during what seems to be such a prosperous time. Here’s what AI has to say:
“The Agricultural Bank of Natchez, MS, failed due to the Panic of 1837 [“a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression which lasted until the mid-1840s.”], which caused a massive credit crisis, falling cotton prices, and a collapse in property values. Unregulated, excessive lending to planters for land and slaves, combined with the Bank of England raising interest rates and the subsequent removal of federal deposits, rendered the bank insolvent.”
back to the building
The building was used for various banking institutions, and then converted into a saloon and restaurant named “The Bank.”
Then in 1916, the Britton & Koontz Bank bought the building and it stayed a Natchez landmark until the 1980s when the bank moved this main branch across town, and the location started serving as an office building.
Finally in 2021 the building was purchased by the current owners, Chef Frankie Muñoz and his parents, Marty Buchman and Cathy Muñoz-Buchman, and on October 14, 2022, it officially opened as Frankie’s on Main. Our pictures in this post show you what the restaurant looks like, but if you want a full description of the restaurant, you might enjoy the review in Country Road Magazine. Just as fun as the decor is, the food is even more delicious. It is fresh and local and so well seasoned. I wish we had a reason to return to Natchez so we could go back for lunch.
The eclectic look in the following pictures created a sense of joy.
Our loss was Natchez’s gain. But I’m not sure we would have known about his Atlanta restaurant since it was in Midtown and we pretty much stay in Alpharetta.
After lunch, we took off for our 2nd antebellum home to tour.
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.