Natchez << NACH ihz >>, Mississippi (pop. 14,520), is the oldest city on the Mississippi River. It lies on the state’s southwestern border.
Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, a French governor of Louisiana, built Fort Rosalie on the site in 1716. The settlement around the fort took the name Natchez from a local Indian tribe. In 1729, the Natchez Indians destroyed the fort, but settlement of the area continued. Britain gained control of the territory in 1763. Spain controlled it from 1779 until it became part of the United States in 1798. The growth of the cotton industry made Natchez the center of wealth and culture in Mississippi before the American Civil War (1861-1865).
Natchez attracts many tourists because it has the largest concentration of antebellum (pre-Civil War) houses in the nation. The city is also a retail and manufacturing center. Products include lumber, oil, and pecans. Natchez has a mayor-council government. It is the seat of Adams County.
