The first of two ante bellum mansions

There are a large number of ante bellum mansions one could visits in Natchez.  It was the center of a huge cotton growing area and the white southerners had become rich thanks to the profits from selling cotton to Europe and particularly England’s cotton mills. Their wealth also accumulated thanks to the slave labour.

Longwood is reputedly the largest octagonal house in the country, this brick residence - topped by a large, onion-shaped dome - was built in 1858 for Dr. Hallier Nutt. Only the basement was finished as when the Civil War started in 1861 there was no labour and Dr Nutt died of pneumonia after two years of construction. The house remained in the family. To-day the completed living area is a magnificent museum of furnishings and paintings of the family from that period. (No photos were allowed in this area). The visitor then climbs to the upper floor where one can see how the intended mansion was meant to be constructed.