Courtesy of Dixon Books
Literature, intertwined with legend, has long held a gravitational power around certain Mississippi cities—drawing readers together around a shared sense of story, of telling, rooted in place. In bookstores, this energy is cultivated into community which, over the decades, has earned a prestige particular to the practice and consumption of Southern writing. Places like Square Books in Oxford, Lemuria in Jackson, and Lorelei in Vicksburg have become destinations of the literati, and homesteads of the Southern writer.
And now, another one of Mississippi’s most mystical destinations, steeped in story, joins in the tradition: Natchez once again has an independent bookstore.
Dixon Books opened on October 11 to a full house, gathered in the kids’ section around a circa-1983 antique hot air balloon. At the ribbon cutting, Mayor Dan Gibson gestured to the balloon, a whimsical symbol of the Bluff City and its famous fall festival, and declared, “The sky’s the limit.” The store was, he said, “far beyond everyone’s imaginations.”
Set into historic downtown Natchez like a puzzle piece that’s been missing, the bookstore is co-owned by Jennifer and Walter Boone and John and Ginger Weaver—who bought the circa-1868 Dixon Building in 2021. Together, the couples have operated a short-term rental upstairs while leasing the downstairs storefront out to Olivia Pate, of the Olivina gift shop.
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When Pate decided to take her business to Baton Rouge earlier this year, Jennifer started envisioning new ways to use the iconic space, with its sky-high ceilings and wood floors. Originally from Hattiesburg and having lived most of her adult life in Jackson, Jennifer’s relationship with Natchez has been framed by a certain nostalgia: she and her mom used to come and spend weekends in the river town, exploring the downtown shops and eating their fill of Natchez’s classic Southern dishes. “I’ve always been drawn to Natchez,” she said.
Once the idea of a bookstore entered her mind, she couldn’t imagine anything else in the Dixon space. “I thought, ‘Somebody really needs to open a bookstore in here,’” and then, “Well, maybe I need to open a bookstore in here. . . I knew I loved Natchez, and I knew I loved books. I figured we’d figure the rest out.”
A retired nurse, Jennifer has spent the last several months getting hands-on training and advice from staff at Square Books, Lemuria, and Lorelei. “I’ve just felt really welcomed by the whole community,” she said. “They didn’t treat me as any kind of competition, they were just glad to have another bookstore coming to Mississippi.”
Lemuria’s John Evans gave her a bit of advice that now informs the shopping experience at Dixon Books: “In order for your bookstore to be authentic, you want to curate what you actually read.” Jennifer said that the selection reflects books that she and her husband personally love—historical fiction, nonfiction, and spirituality for her; Mississippi and Civil Rights history for him. “But I also want to have something that everybody likes to read,” she said. “I want this to be a third space where people come in and feel connected and welcome, and find something that interests them. So, we did order books we read, but we also want there to be something for everybody.”
Learn more about Dixon Books at dixonbooksnatchez.com.
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