At the beginning of the 19th century, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to improve frontier communications by linking Nashville (Tennessee) to the Mississippi River. Natchez was at the time the most important trading centre on the river so the route chosen for the trail was not due west, which would have made it about 320 kilometres (200 miles) long, but south west to Natchez, a total of 770 kilometres (410 miles). The trail known as the Natchez Trace was built between 1801 and 1809, largely following an old Indian trail that the French had explored in 1742. It had a short life as the development of new ports such as Memphis (Tennessee) on the Mississipi  made it easier to transport goods further up the river by steamboat. By 1816 the Natchez Trace had become little used. In 2005 the Natchez Trace Parkway opened, a road that follows a similar but not identical route to the old Trace.  

Mount Locust Inn

Travellers on the Trace needed somewhere to stay at night, particularly when the popularity of the  trail made it a magnet for  highwaymen. Inns (or ‘stands’) sprang up along the Trace providing food and accommodation typically for 25c per night. Only one of the inns has survived, Mount Locust Inn & Plantation, located at milepost 15.5 of the Parkway. The house was built in 1780 during the American Revolution and by 1801 its proximity to the Natchez Trace had enabled it to become a successful inn. The Mount Locust Inn served travellers well until around 1825, when traffic on the Trace declined to the point where the inn became unsustainable.  The National Park Service began restoration in 1954, using archaeology to restore the house to its 1820 appearance. Click Tab 2 to see the living room.

Owens Creek Waterfall

Much of the countryside in Mississippi is relatively low lying, so the state is not renowned for its waterfalls. Owens Creek Waterfall certainly can’t compete with Niagara, indeed we were lucky to see this waterfall at all.  The water table in the area has dropped several feet over the years. As a result the spring that feeds Owens Creek has all but disappeared and it is only after heavy rainfall that water fills the stream and sets the waterfall going.

Sunken Trace

Construction of the Natchez Trace Parkway began in the 1930s but it was not until 2005 that the entire route was completed. It starts from the outskirts of Natchez in Mississippi  and continues for 715 kilometres(444 miles) passing through the north west of Alabama and terminating south of Nashville in Tennessee. We have travelled the section between Nachez and Tupelo a distance of some 425 kilometres (274 miles). The Parkway does not run along the precise route of the old Trace, but it runs close to it in numerous places. At some of these encounters  the long abandoned Trace is difficult to spot, but here at  milepost 41.5 the Trace is clearly visible as it runs through a deep cutting.  This ‘Sunken Trace’ is a result of thousands of travellers walking over easily eroded loess soil.

Emerald Mound

Natchez Trace followed the route of ancient Indian trails, so it should be no surprise that the Parkway passes close to several earthworks. Emerald Mound at milepost 10.3 is the largest earthwork along the Parkway. It was a ceremonial centre for residents of surrounding Indian settlements and was  constructed during the Mississippian culture period between 1250 and 1600 AD.  The mound got its name from antebellum era Emerald Plantation that surrounded it. The summit of the mound is roughly 20 metres (65 feet) above the surrounding countryside.

Natchez Trace Parkway

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Drane House, French Camp

French Canadian fur trader Louis LeFleur had a very strong sideline in founding settlements. In the late 1700s he established LeFluer’s Bluff which became Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. In 1812 he established LeFleur’s Stand, and 10 years later a Christian school called French Camp Academy was set up there. The school still exists today and in the town around it is the Natchez Trace Historic District with its many old buildings. Colonel James Drane began building this dogtrot house in 1846. A dogtrot house has a passageway (or ‘breezeway’) through the centre to help to get cool air into the rooms each side of it. Drane went on to become State Representative, Senator and President of the Mississippi State Senate.

Rocky Springs Methodist Church

Rocky Springs was first settled in the late 1790s, taking its name from nearby springs. This source of water made Rocky Springs a popular stop on the Natchez Trace. Even after traffic on the Trace declined, the town continued to prosper. By 1860 it was centre of a cotton farming community of 54 planters, 28 overseers and over 2,000 slaves. The  town had 3 merchants, 4 physicians, 4 teachers, 3 clergy and 13 artisans. Today the only building left standing is the Methodist Church with its old cemetery.  A few signs remain of the town used to surround it including two abandoned safes and some cisterns.

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© Mike  Elsden 1981 - 2025

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