May 13-15, 2024 – Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi

Monday, we drove the Parkway to where we stopped yesterday and continued our tour.  There were many trees blown over during last night's storm.  Some had come down across the road, but the National Park Service had them cleaned up before we started this morning.  We stopped and hiked a section of the Old Trace.  This is what the sign beside the trail said:

THE OLD NATCHEZ TRACE

This is the Natchez Trace, for many years it served man well, but as with many things when its usefulness passed, it was abandoned.

Over the years, this time worn path has been a silent witness to honor and dishonor.  It bears the prints of countless men.

Walk down the shaded trail – leave your prints in the dust, not for others to see, but for the road to remember.

The trail was very muddy, so we left Tacky in the Jeep and took a short hike through the beautiful forest.

All the rain has been great for the mushrooms.  We particularly liked this orange one.

After our hike, we stopped at Rocky Springs.  We hiked a short trail to the site of a once thriving rural community first settled in the late 1790’s.  The town grew from a watering place along the Natchez Trace and took its name from the spring that supplied the water.  In 1860 a total of 2,616 people lived in this area covering about 25 square miles.  The town was decimated by yellow fever and all that is left are some cisterns, a safe and a church and cemetery.

The trail has dried out some so we took Tacky on this hike.  Nancy and Tacky found a cistern.

And here is one of the two safes we found.  The sign talks about the post office having receipts of $82.52 in 1827 so we assume this is the safe from the post office.

This church was built in 1837 by the Methodist congregation of Rocky Springs.  Earlier the town had been a station for a circuit-riding preacher who stopped by only once or twice a month.  The church is preserved by the former congregation members who hold services here once a month and gather here at an annual “homecoming” each spring.

                        The cemetery behind the church.

We were reminded of how hard life was in the 1800s by this double headstone.  John and Sarah Powers had two daughters buried here.  Julia was born October 19, 1851, and died July 11, 1852. Martha was born June 22, 1852, and died March 18, 1853.

 

Just before we reached Jackson, MS we stopped at the Cowles Mead Cemetery.  Mr. Mead came from the east seeking opportunity in the Mississippi Territory.  He owned a tavern on the Old Trace near Natchez and held several political offices including acting governor in 1806. Mead followed the growth of the state and moved to the Jackson area.  He built his beautifully landscaped home, Greenwood, here.  Little remains today of his grand estate that burned after his death, during the Civil War, except the family cemetery.  We hiked a short path to the cemetery.  Two pillar headstones are still standing but there was no wording left on them.

We drove on to Jackson, which completed our first 100 miles on the parkway, before heading back to our RV park in Vidalia, LA.

Monday evening, we had another rainstorm accompanied by strong winds.

 We spent Tuesday at the motorhome doing some housekeeping chores and updating the blog.  The key broke off in one of the outside storage compartments, so Rex spent part of the day trying to get the broken end of the key out of the lock.  He finally gave up and switched the lock to another compartment that doesn’t need to be locked.  We will get it fixed when we get home in the fall.

In the late afternoon, we took another walk along the Vidalia River Walk.  This is the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River between Vidalia, LA and Natchez, MS.

Tacky especially liked walking on the ledge on the side of the walkway.  It was a beautiful day with some clouds but no rain.

Wednesday, we went grocery shopping, did laundry and started getting ready to move. The sun was shining today and it was hot. Thursday we are heading to an RV Park in Canton, MS where we will do another 100 miles of the parkway.