Natchez officials are preparing for a major transformation aimed at elevating the city as a national cultural heritage destination. With a $24.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the city will upgrade infrastructure along the “Forks to Freedom Corridor,” a major route connecting key historic sites to downtown and the Mississippi River bluff.
Mayor Dan Gibson said the project will help showcase Natchez’s rich history, which spans thousands of years—from indigenous cultures to European colonization, the Civil War, and the civil rights movement. “Natchez, Mississippi was the first capital of the state when it was a territory in the 1700s,” Gibson said. “We hope this project getting off the ground will elevate Natchez to a must see tourist stop.
The corridor includes Highway 61 North, Devereaux Drive, St. Catherine Street, Jefferson Street, and downtown Natchez. Gibson said the area holds significant but often overlooked landmarks because the bypass steers visitors south of downtown. “Included in this area is the "Forks of the Road" historic site, once the site sadly of the second largest slave market in the Deep South during the pre-Civil War days,” Gibson said.
Other sites include Zion Chapel AME Church, where Hiram Revels an educator and minister preached. He settled in Nachez after the civil war, becoming a state representative during the Reconstruction Era and was the first African American to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate in 1870. The city plans to develop “Revels Plaza” to honor the man who would become the first president of Alcorn University in Claiborne County.
“This is a historically multiracial area,” Gibson said, noting that Natchee Indians were indigenous to the region before French, British, and Spanish, settlers arrived. “The project is intended to bring more development to the area and foster an appreciation for the historic ethnic and racial diversity of Natchez.”
Tourism is already a major economic driver for Natchez. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city welcomed about 1 million visitors last year, generating nearly $1 million in economic impact.
Roscoe Barnes, cultural heritage tourism manager, said the grant will fund new pavement, pedestrian walkways, bike trails, handicapped-accessible curbs, and landscaping. “It’ll pay for new pavement, better access to pedestrian walkways, bike trails, curbs that are handicapped accessible, and landscaping,” Barnes said. He added that navigating the city can be difficult during peak tourism season from June to August. “There are certain times of the year where we literally have thousands of people moving about throughout the downtown area. Many are walking. They’re taking pictures, taking photos, and taking selfies. But we also have many motorists moving about. We have tour buses.”
Gibson said visitors also come for scenic views of the Mississippi River, local restaurants, and antebellum homes. There over 1,000 historic building in Natchez listed on the National Register of Historic places according to the Historic Natchez Foundation. But he emphasized the importance of telling the full story behind those homes. “The history of those who really built this city—the enslaved ancestors of so many of our citizens—who as African slaves worked and toiled really in sometimes very inhumane conditions,” Gibson said.
Barnes said the first phase of the Forks to Freedom Corridor project is underway, with input from residents and business owners guiding the design phase. “We don’t have an exact date at this time, because a lot of that is going to depend on the input that we receive from the public,” Barnes said. Unofficially, he estimates the project will take about two years.
Alongside the infrastructure project, Gibson announced that United Airlines will begin flights from Natchez to Houston in July. “That will be a boon to our goal of attracting even more visitors looking to experience what makes Natchez the place they must come and see,” Gibson said.