This morning, I hung out in Addie doing some trip planning – and then went over the bridge to Natchez where I toured a couple of homes, found the synagogue, and wandered around the Old Jewish Cemetery.
Note: On my two tours, I was the only guest and my guides shared A LOT of information. 🙂
Longwood, the largest octagonal house in the United States, is an historic antebellum mansion located in Natchez, Mississippi. The mansion is known for its octagonal design, byzantine onion-shaped dome and the contrast between the finished first floor and the unfinished upper floors. Longwood is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.
Intriguing how the staircase highlights the differences between the finished bottom floor (which should have been the basement) and the remainder of the building. Construction halted in 1861 with the Civil War.
View up to the unfinished cupola from the first floor.
Unfinished brick.
As a National Historic Landmark, Auburn has quite a story to tell. It was the first major building in Natchez to follow an actual architectural plan. In the years leading to the Civil War several Natchez homes emulated the style of Auburn’s facade. The home’s spiral staircase stands entirely unsupported, a feat unmatched even in modern buildings. These points introduce you to the dramatic story of Auburn itself.
The unsupported staircase from below.
There’s a plate for everything!
What do you see when you look at the numbers on the clock face?
Temple B’nai Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the state of Mississippi, was founded in 1843. By 1861, this small community of mostly French- and German-speaking merchants, auctioneers, shoemakers, and peddlers was ready to erect its first house of worship, but the outbreak of the Civil War delayed its plans for several years. Finally, in 1872, the congregation dedicated its first temple on the current site—an occasion of great celebration as “Jews and Gentiles filled the temple beyond its capacity and great crowds stood upon the sidewalks and street.” A charter member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism), B’nai Israel is a Reform Jewish community that has served as the spiritual home for Jews from Natchez and the surrounding communities for 175 years.
Jewish Cemetery, 1844-1899. Outside these walls are many more graves, too.
For a totally different pic, hand-washed laundry drying in Addie!
