Natchez Spring Pilgrimage
Historic Downtown Natchez 410 Main Street, Natchez, Mississippi 39120
Courtesy of Natchez Pilgrimage
"The most extensive tours of the most extravagant antebellum homes in America." That's the way the Pilgrimage Garden Club describes the Natchez Pilgrimage—the spring and fall tour of homes that has kept visitors coming back to Natchez since 1932. Why? Because Natchez was once home to more millionaires per capita, than any other city in America—and although that situation came to an abrupt end after the Civil War, the city has managed to preserve the extraordinary architectural legacy of that wealth, while also paying homage to the enslaved individuals on whose backs that wealth was created. Today, Natchez's streets remain lined with palatial mansions and filigreed townhouses, and each year the families that occupy them allow guests to nose through two-hundred-year-old homes, meet descendants, learn about the city's history, stay in one of more than fifty historic B&Bs, and generally get a residents' eye view of life in this most genial of Southern cities. This spring, seventeen homes from the late 1700s through the 1800s will be on display. Find details on other special events, dinners, and tours at littleeasytours.com, natchezpilgrimage.com.
Learn more about the ways the event has evolved over recent years to better reflect Natchez history in its entirety, firmly acknowledging the role that the labor of enslaved people played in the city's enormous wealth, as well as the many historical contributions of Black and Indigenous people in Natchez. Read this story from our March 2022 issue, here.
