
Melrose dining room with
punkah
'Natchez National Historical Park' commemorates the history of
Natchez, Mississippi, and is managed by the
National Park Service.

Melrose
The park consists of three distinct parts.
Fort Rosalie is the site of a fortification from the
1700s, built by the
French, and later controlled by the
United Kingdom,
Spain, and the
United States. The William Johnson House is the home of
William Johnson, a free
African American barber and resident of Natchez whose diary has been published. ''Melrose'' is the estate of
John T. McMurran, a lawyer and state senator who was a planter in Natchez from
1830 until the
Civil War.
The fort is not open to the public. The other two units of the park include displays related to life in
antebellum Natchez.
The collection at Melrose's two-story
Greek Revival main house and its
slave quarters includes painted floor cloths,
mahogany punkah, a set of
Rococo Revival parlor furniture, a set of
Gothic Revival dining room chairs, and bookcases with books dating to the 1700s. These were collected from Natchez families including the McMurran family. The collection in the Johnson house includes furnishings from his life and family. Archaeological objects found in the park are also on display.
The
National Historical Park was authorized on
October 71988 (U.S. public law 100-479; H.R. 4457), and the William Johnson House was added to it on
September 28 1990 (U.S. public law 101-379; H.R. 4501). As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
References
★ ''The National Parks: Index 2001–2003''. Washington:
U.S. Department of the Interior.
External links
★ Official NPS website:
Natchez National Historical Park