Elizabeth Female Academy - A Reminder of Audubon in Mississippi

John James Audubon is remembered today as one of the finest naturalists ever to explore the North American continent. He is memorialized in the Audubon Society and his work, particularly on the bird species of the United States, is still critical today.

He spent many months roaming through the South, studying its wildlife up close, and produced the only known artistic representations of such rare species as the Ivory Billed Woodpecker from life. It is a little known fact, however, that the Haitian born Audubon survived during many of his explorations by painting portraits and teaching drawing. Among the places he worked was a landmark college for women along the Natchez Trace in Mississippi.

The Elizabeth Female Academy, founded in 1818, was the first college in the United States to award degrees to women (a distinction also claimed by Wesleyan in Georgia). The ladies who attended Elizabeth studied advanced topics including Latin, history, mathematic, natural science, philosophy and art. For six weeks in the summer of 1822, their drawing instructor was John James Audubon.

The famed naturalist walked 7 miles each way in the blazing Mississippi sun to teach at the academy, which was located up the trace from Natchez in Washington. The heat and exposure to mosquitoes and other insects soon left him bed-ridden with fever. When he recovered, he accepted a position in Natchez and did not return to the job at the academy.

The ruins of Elizabeth Female Academy can be seen today along the Natchez Trace Parkway. The unique institution held a landmark place in American education and it is well worth taking your time to visit the historic site during a trip up or down the Trace. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natchezelizabeth.

Mount Locust Inn & Plantation - Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi

Mount Locust, located atop a hill at the 15.5 mile marker of the Natchez Trace Parkway, is one of the most important historic sites along the 444 mile long National Park area.

Built in 1780, while the American Revolution was still in full fury, the historic home originally served as an inn or "stand" along the famed Natchez Trace. This roadway led from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee, and provided a short cut for "Kaintuck" boatmen who floated cargoes of furs and farm products down the Mississippi River to Natchez and New Orleans. Steamboat travel had not yet been developed, so getting back home to upriver settlements in the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee valleys wasn't quite as easy as getting downstream. The solution was the Natchez Trace. Sometimes called America's first "superhighway," it was an overland path by which the boatmen could make their way back home.

In those days fifteen miles was about the distance that a person could be expected to walk in a day, so resting places naturally developed in intervals of about that length. Mount Locust was just over fifteen miles north of Natchez and offered food and sleeping space to weary travelers for 25 cents a day.

In later years, when travel on the Trace was replaced by steamboats on the Mississippi, the house became the center of a large Mississippi cotton plantation. When the Natchez Trace Parkway was developed, however, the park service acquired the house and grounds for development as a historic site.

The unique old home, which far pre-dates the state of Mississippi, has been restored to its 1820 appearance and is in a remarkable state of preservation. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natchezlocust.

Raymond, Mississippi - Historic Sites & Points of Interest

Located just 17 minutes from downtown Jackson and 30 minutes from Vicksburg, the historic city of Raymond is one of the most charming communities in Mississippi.

Built around a town square that dates back to 1828, Raymond is rich in historic sites and structures. Noted for its many antebellum structures which include homes, churches and the beautiful old Hinds County Courthouse, Raymond is located along the Natchez Trace Parkway and is emerging as a major heritage destination for travelers in Mississippi.

Although the area had been settled for many years before by Choctaw Indians, the modern community of Raymond was born in 1828 when a three person commission selected the site to serve as the county seat of Hinds Couunty. General Raymond Robinson held earlier title to the town site, but gave it up for the public good and the city of Raymond was named in his honor. The Mississippi Legislature officially designated Raymond as county seat in 1829.

The community was an important economic and social center during the years leading up to the Civil War and was the scene of the bloody Battle of Raymond during that conflict.

The battle took place on May 12, 1863, as the army of General Ulysses S. Grant was closing in on the state capital of Jackson during the opening phases of his Vicksburg Campaign. His plan was to take Jackson, drive off Confederate forces in the area and then close in on Vicksburg from the rear. Waiting at Raymond, however, were 4,000 Confederate soldiers led by Brigadier General John Gregg.

As Union Major General James B. McPherson's column approached Raymond, 12,000 men strong, Gregg attacked so ferociously that a significant battle erupted. By the time the smoke cleared, more than 1,000 men had fallen and homes, churches and even the courthouse in Raymond were converted to hospitals. Gregg was unable to hold back the Federals and Grant eventually went on to take Vicksburg in one of the most significant victories of the Civil War.

Raymond today is a beautiful and charming community. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/raymond.

Natchez Trace Parkway - Beautiful Drive through the Romantic Old South

Continuing our St. Valentine's Day look at some of the South's most romantic places, a drive down the Natchez Trace is an unforgettable experience.

The parkway shadows the route of the original Natchez Trace, a road deeply embedded in the romance of the Old South. It was blazed during the 1700s by "Kaintuck" boatmen making their way back home to the Cumberland and Ohio River Valleys from trips down the Mississippi River to New Orleans on flatboats. This was during the days before paddlewheel steamboats made their way up and down the great river.

Today's highway is a limited access national park that stretches from Natchez in Mississippi up to the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee. As it winds its way through beautiful scenery in Mississippi, Alabama and tennessee, the Trace takes visitors past historic plantations, Indian mounds, the ruins of a school where John James Audubon once taught, battlefields, sites associated with the Trail of Tears, waterfalls, lakes, natural points of interest and much more. Visitors can even visit the grave of Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame and the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

There are numerous hotels, bed and breakfast inns, campsites and other accommodations in the towns and parks along the parkway, which can be accessed at points all along its route. The National Park Service operates visitor centers and contact stations at multiple points on the parkway and rangers and staff are always available to answer questions.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natcheztrace1.

Bynum Mounds - Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi

Located about 30 miles south of Tupelo, Mississippi, the Bynum Mounds are among the oldest Indian mounds to be found on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Built over a 200 year period between around 100 B.C. and 100 A.D., the Bynum site was in use by Native Americans of the Woodland period at the time of the Birth of Christ. They reflect a time period when the original cultures of the South demonstrated remarkable progress in the areas of agriculture, the making of pottery, ceremonial structure and more.

The Bynum Mounds were used for both burial and ceremonial purposes and were the focal points of a larger village complex that included houses and other structures.

The mounds are now part of a historic site maintained by the National Park Service. They can be seen from the parking area along the Natchez Trace Parkway and are easily accessed during daylight hours by paved walkways. The park also features interpretive signs.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natchezbynum.

Summer Escapes #10 - Natchez Trace Parkway

From its starting point at Natchez, Mississippi, to its ending point near Nashville, Tennessee, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a winding drive through the history and natural wonders of the South.

A modern national park area, the drive roughly follows the route of the original Natchez Trace, an important frontier trail used by "Kaintuck" boatmen as they made their way back home after floating their crops, furs or other items down the Ohio and Mississippi River on flatboats and keelboats. The path originated in the years before the American Revolution and all but vanished with the arrival of paddlewheel steamboats on the Mississippi River during the early 1800s. Despite its brief existence as a major "highway" of its time, the Natchez Trace played a critical role in American history.

Today, the paved parkway provides a beautiful winding drive through three states and commemorates the original roadway. Stops along the way allow visitors to explore old plantations, battlefields, Indian mounds, natural wonders, cemeteries, ghost towns and more. The road is beautiful during the summer, when the vegetation is at its greenest.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natcheztrace1.

Spring Travel Part Nineteen: Natchez Trace Parkway

Stretching from Natchez, Mississippi up to the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee, the Natchez Trace Parkway is one of America's premier national park areas.

The parkway commemorates the original Natchez Trace, an important roadway that linked Tennessee with Natchez on the Mississippi River.

To drive the parkway today is a leisurely and fascinating journey. The park setting stretches up through Mississippi and Alabama and into Tennessee and can be accessed at numerous points along the way. There are scores of historic sites along the parkway, and signs point out others in nearby communities. Among them can be seen Native American mounds and village sites, battlefields, historic homes, lost communities and a wide variety of other points of interest.

To learn more about the Natchez Trace Parkway, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natcheztrace1.

Emerald Mound - Natchez, Mississippi

This astounding Native American ceremonial mound is located just off the Natchez Trace Parkway outside of Natchez, Mississippi.

One of the largest "Indian mounds" in the eastern United States, Emerald Mound is believed to be more than 600 years old. It covers more than 8 acres and is topped by several smaller mounds.

Now protected by the National Park Service, the mound is one of the many historic points of interest along the Natchez Trace. If you would like to read more and see additional photographs, just go to www.exploresouthernhistory.com and look for the "Natchez Trace Parkway" heading.

Owl Creek Mounds - Natchez Trace Parkway

The Owl Creek Mounds, located off the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, are among the dozens of signficant historic sites to be found along the route of the unique national park.

The Parkway stretches from Natchez, Mississippi to the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee and commemorates the original Natchez Trace, an important roadway used primarily during the late 1700s and early 1800s.

The Owl Creek Mounds, now maintained by the National Forest Service, are located just off the parkway south of Tupelo, Mississippi. Constructed during the Mississippian Era, they date back more than five hundred years.

To learn more, please visit our new Natchez Trace section at www.exploresouthernhistory.com. The section is not completed yet, but a number of sites - including Owl Creek - can now be explored online.

New home page coming on Saturday!

We will be launching a new home page and expanded content on Saturday at www.exploresouthernhistory.com. Be sure to check out the new design! We hope you will find it easier to navigate and loaded with new content!

Among the new pages we will be launching at the same time are:

• The Alamo - San Antonio, Texas
• Grand Gulf Military Monument - Mississippi
• The Natchez Trace - Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee
• Battle of Corinth - Corinth, Mississippi

In addition, we will launch our new online bookstore!

Be sure to check out the improvements on Saturday afternoon.