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Driving through Natchez Under-the-Hill Historic District

Driving through Natchez Under-the-Hill Historic District

Join fine art photographer Keith Dotson on a quick drive through the historic Under-the-Hill district in Natchez, Mississippi

In this video, we drive through the area along the Mississippi River known as “Under-the-Hill,” below the bluffs in Natchez, Mississippi. It’s a tourist area now, with a handful of restaurants and bars, but it was the original townsite of Natchez in the early 1700s. There were about 20 structures here at the time. This is where the riverboat landing was located, and it quickly became a dangerous, seedy place — hosting river pirates, gamblers, highwaymen, and prostitutes. It was said that “the only thing cheaper than a woman’s body was a man’s life.”

The town spread to the top of the bluffs in the 1730s when the French built Fort Rosalie. There’s a beautiful park there now and the Fort Rosalie site still exists.

Video of the infamous Under-the-hill district in Natchez, Mississippi

More about Natchez

I was totally smitten with this rowdy but genteel riverboat town in the deep south. It has an interesting history and it’s beautiful today. You can learn more about it with these books:

Norman’s Natchez: An Early Photographer and His Town, by Henry C. Norman

Natchez City Streets Revisited, by Joan and Thomas Gandy

Natchez: Landmarks, Lifestyles, and Leisure (Images of America: Mississippi), by Joan and Thomas Gandy

An assortment of books and novels about Natchez and also the Natchez Trace, which runs from Nashville to Natchez.

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Thanks for reading!

Be sure to visit me on FacebookInstagram or Pinterest, or on my website at keithdotson.com.

~ Keith

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