Mount Locust
Natchez Trace
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Mississippi State Society, DAR marker at Mount Locust
Constructed circa, 1780, this home is one of the oldest structures in Mississippi. It functioned as both a working plantation and as an inn, where travelers on the Natchez Trace could rest for the night. Mount Locust is the only surviving inn of the more than 50 that existed during the period of greatest use of the Old Natchez Trace.
Beginnings of Mount Locust
The American Revolution caused several thousand British sympathizers to move into the Natchez District. During the American Revolution, Spain moved against Britain and seized Natchez in 1779. John Blommart, a retired British naval officer, probably built Mount Locust about 1780.
William Ferguson
William Ferguson, a Virginian, migrated to Natchez in 1774. In 1784 the recently married Ferguson bought the Blommart tract, Mt. Locust. As the Ferguson family grew, so did the house and its outbuildings. William Ferguson's widow Paulina married James Chamberlain in 1806. The Ferguson-Chamberlain family lived at Mount Locust for over 150 years.
Mount Locust as an Inn
After 1795, the Mississippi River was legally opened for American traffic. Settlers from the Ohio River Valley floated their products downriver and sold them at Natchez or New Orleans. Most of them walked back home over the Natchez Trace, because their boats could not go upstream.
Mount Locust as a Plantation
When steamboats came to the Mississippi, travel on the Trace declined. At Mount Locust, cotton growing replaced the tavern business.
Mount Locust Today
The site is open every day except Christmas Day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free and interpretive programs are given daily. Restrooms, exhibits, an information center, and bookstore are on-site. There is a wheelchair accessible walkway leading to the historic home.
Groups and schools are encouraged to make reservations by calling 601-445-4211.
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3 Lady with a Past - Historically Inspired Art Dolls
4 A.K. Shaifer House
5 Windsor Ruins
Access/Exit US Highway 61
6 Windsor Ruins Loop Route
Access/Exit Mississippi Highway 552
7 The Old Country Store Restaurant
8 Rosswood Planation Bed and Breakfast
9 North Fork Coles Creek
10 Mud Island Creek
Access/Exit Mississippi Highway 553
11 Bullen Creek
12 Coles Creek
13 Church Hill Loop Route
* Mount Locust
14 Loess Bluff
15 Turpin Creek
16 Emerald Mound
Access/Exit Mississippi Highway 553
17 Brandon Hall Plantation Bed and Breakfast
18 Old Trace Exhibit Shelter
Access/Exit US Highway 61
19 Elizabeth Female Academy
20 Bluff Top Bed and Breakfast
21 The Burn Bed and Breakfast
22 Devereaux Shields House Bed and Breakfast
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24 1888 Wensel House Bed and Breakfast
25 Hugh's Cottage
26 Pleasant Hill Bed and Breakfast
27 Bisland House Bed and Breakfast
28 Oak Hill Inn Bed and Breakfast
29 Magnolia Cottage Bed and Breakfast
30 Southern Terminus
Access/Exit Liberty Road
31 Hope Farm Bed and Breakfast
32 Grand Village of the Natchez Indians
33 Elgin Plantation Bed and Breakfast
Color Key:
* Mount Locust
Bed and Breakfasts located nearby
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