Natchez, Mississippi

A fascinating and wonderful overnight visit to Natchez to research Jewish/African American/white Southern relationships in this historic town on the Mississippi. Originally owned by the French, then the Spanish and finally America, Natchez’ location on the great river made it key to transport and trade in cotton and enslaved people, who were sold here and sent to plantations. Jewish merchants have been a part of the town’s history from nearly its start, originally immigrating here from Alsace-Lorraine in France and various parts of Germany. 

The main part of town sits on bluffs above the river. The Under-the-Hill area where Jewish families lived and sold dry goods etc. to locals and sailors barely exists anymore, having been taken by the river. We did walk down Silver Street to see what was left on the shore and found Magnolia Grill, where we twice ate really good redfish, shrimp, and grits and drank more than one or two local beers.

We spent the night at an antebellum mansion called the Burn Inn, once owned by a prominent Jewish family. The owner and his staff were very hospitable, sharing their knowledge about the home and the community history. Plus the breakfast (with more grits—yay!) were scrumptious. 

While we also did a lot of walking, sightseeing and visiting the local African American History Museum, the highlight of Natchez was meeting Teri Tillman, a local historian and thoughtful and wonderful tour guide for our visit to B’nai Israel Synagogue, built in 1834 to serve the many Jewish families here. Teri shared so much information about the local Jewish community and we loved talking with her and getting to know her a bit.

I’ll be sharing more of what we learned in Part III of the L’dor v’Dor trilogy.