(Marker #1)
Mount Locust as an Inn
Growing traffic on the Trace gave Ferguson opportunity to develop Mount Locust.

After 1795, the Mississippi was legally opened for American traffic. Settlers floated their products downriver and sold them at Natchez or New Orleans. Most of them walked back over the Natchez Trace, because their boats could not go upstream.

(List Caption)
An 1812 almanac lists the taverns on the Trace. Mount Locust was at "Union Town." Laid out by Ferguson in 1799, the "town" had an inn, a tannery, and a few houses.

(Image Captions)
The kitchen was a separate building. Excavations in 1941 show its brick floor.

Archeologists uncovered the remains of a brick walk to "Sleepy Hollow," the guest house Ferguson built as business boomed. Travelers slept at Sleepy Hollow, but went to the main house for meals.

(Marker #2)
Mount Locust - A Home
Mount Locust grew with the family and the region into the "Big House" of a fair-size plantation.

(Graphic Captions)
Partial inventory of Mount Locust furnishings in 1801. Most furniture seems to have been made of local materials. Tableware and the looking glass probably were imported from Philadelphia.

Oak and sassafras were used for framing.

Clapboard and furniture came from heart poplar.

Alterations can often be dated by the kind of nails and screws.

Original late 18th century-Pit saw or whip (Hand Power)

Early 19th century additions-Mill sawn vertical power driven (Horse Power)

Late 19th century-Circular saw additions (Steam Power)

Complicated joints in the older construction show skilled craftsmanship.

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Show me all markers in:  Natchez, MS  |  Jefferson County  |  39120  |  Mississippi  |  United States of America

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