HISTORY

Known as Natchez Under-the-Hill, this area of Natchez was described by numerous nineteenth-century travelers as one of the rowdiest ports on the Mississippi River. Here docked the keelboats and the flatboats, and, beginning in 1811, the steamboats. 

Taverns, gambling halls, and brothels lined the principal street. Here, rumor has it, the only thing cheaper than the body of a woman was the life of a man.

The poppies are a site to see as the beautiful riverboats dock right next to the Rivers Edge Suites.

Nineteenth century Natchez, in a sense, was a city with a split personality. There was Natchez proper and Natchez improper. Natchez proper was the town on top of the bluff; Natchez improper was the boat landing beneath the bluff on the bank of the Mississippi.

The Natchez Balloon Festival, established in 1986, is a weekend of hot-air balloons and outstanding live music that has become the largest and most successful festival in Southwest Mississippi. The festival site is located in historic downtown Natchez in the parklike grounds of the columned mansion Rosalie.