Geography of Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi, the seat of Adams County. It is on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, 92 miles (148 km) southwest of Jackson. Natchez is in a crop-and livestock-raising area, and it produces rubber products, paper, lumber, and chemicals.
The city's prosperous 19th-century steamboat days are commemorated by the annual Spring Pilgrimage, when pre-Civil War homes are opened to the public.
The area was first visited by the French explorer Sieur de La Salle in the late 17th century. In 1716 the French built Fort Rosalie, and the town developed around it, despite a massacre by the Natchez Indians in 1729. The fort passed to the English in 1763, to the Spanish in 1779, and to the United States in 1798. The town, named for the Natchez Indians, was the capital of Mississippi Territory from 1798 to 1802. Natchez became a city in 1877. It is governed by mayor and council.
Population: 18,464.