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Mount Locust Inn and Plantation
ExploreSouthernHistory.com
Mount Locust: Historic Inn on the Natchez Trace
At milepost 15.5 on the Natchez Trace Parkway is one of the most
significant historic sites in Mississippi. Originally constructed as an
inn or "stand" on the historic Natchez Trace, Mount Locust offers
visitors a chance to step back through time to the days when the
"Kaintucks" used the old Trace as a primary route of transportation.
The historic home, now maintained and preserved by the National
Park Service, was begun in 1780 by an early settler named John
Blommart. The leader of a failed rebellion against the Spanish, who
then controlled the Mississippi Valley, Blommart lost the home and
the rest of his fortune. It was then taken over by his former business
partner, who carved a plantation from the wilderness and made
Mount Locust a fixture for travelers on the Natchez Trace.
In the early days of American expansion, farmers and other
entrepreneurs carried their products down the Mississippi River on
flatboats. Although they were from places besides Kentucky, these
individuals became known as "Kaintucks." After selling their goods
in New Orleans and Natchez, they would walk or ride horses back
home via the Natchez Trace, which connected Natchez with
Nashville.
Mount Locust lay about a day's walk from Natchez, and so developed
as a popular "stand" on the historic road. Travelers would stop here
for a meal and lodging, readily available for a price of 25 cents.
The development of steamboats soon brought most traffic on the
Trace to an end. The paddlewheel boats could travel up the
Mississippi as well as down, enabling travelers to get back home
easily by water. Foot travel on the Natchez Trace had all but ended by
1825, but Mount Locust remained in operation first as an inn and
finally as the center of a prosperous cotton plantation. Five
generations of the Chamberlain family lived in the house, the last
leaving in 1944.
The National Park Service acquired the Mount Locust property at the
time of the creation of the Natchez Trace Parkway. The historic home
has been restored to its 1820 appearance and walking paths lead
through the grounds past such historic sites as the brick kiln, family
cemetery, slave cemetery and sites of plantation structures such as
the slave quarters and overseer's house.
The National Park Service uses the site to interpret life along the old
Trace for both white travelers and enslaved African American
laborers.
Located at milepost 15.5 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mount
Locust is open to visitors every day from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from
February through November. Admission is free and rangers are
available on the grounds to provide information. There are
restrooms, exhibits, an information center and a bookstore on the
grounds and the walkway to the historic home is wheelchair
accessible.
significant historic sites in Mississippi. Originally constructed as an
inn or "stand" on the historic Natchez Trace, Mount Locust offers
visitors a chance to step back through time to the days when the
"Kaintucks" used the old Trace as a primary route of transportation.
The historic home, now maintained and preserved by the National
Park Service, was begun in 1780 by an early settler named John
Blommart. The leader of a failed rebellion against the Spanish, who
then controlled the Mississippi Valley, Blommart lost the home and
the rest of his fortune. It was then taken over by his former business
partner, who carved a plantation from the wilderness and made
Mount Locust a fixture for travelers on the Natchez Trace.
In the early days of American expansion, farmers and other
entrepreneurs carried their products down the Mississippi River on
flatboats. Although they were from places besides Kentucky, these
individuals became known as "Kaintucks." After selling their goods
in New Orleans and Natchez, they would walk or ride horses back
home via the Natchez Trace, which connected Natchez with
Nashville.
Mount Locust lay about a day's walk from Natchez, and so developed
as a popular "stand" on the historic road. Travelers would stop here
for a meal and lodging, readily available for a price of 25 cents.
The development of steamboats soon brought most traffic on the
Trace to an end. The paddlewheel boats could travel up the
Mississippi as well as down, enabling travelers to get back home
easily by water. Foot travel on the Natchez Trace had all but ended by
1825, but Mount Locust remained in operation first as an inn and
finally as the center of a prosperous cotton plantation. Five
generations of the Chamberlain family lived in the house, the last
leaving in 1944.
The National Park Service acquired the Mount Locust property at the
time of the creation of the Natchez Trace Parkway. The historic home
has been restored to its 1820 appearance and walking paths lead
through the grounds past such historic sites as the brick kiln, family
cemetery, slave cemetery and sites of plantation structures such as
the slave quarters and overseer's house.
The National Park Service uses the site to interpret life along the old
Trace for both white travelers and enslaved African American
laborers.
Located at milepost 15.5 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mount
Locust is open to visitors every day from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from
February through November. Admission is free and rangers are
available on the grounds to provide information. There are
restrooms, exhibits, an information center and a bookstore on the
grounds and the walkway to the historic home is wheelchair
accessible.
| Historic Mount Locust Inn and Plantation Located at milepost 15.5 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, the inn dates from the Revolutionary War. |
| Restored Room at Mount Locust Antique furniture and a coonskin cap can still be seen at historic Mount Locust. |
| The Original Natchez Trace A section of the "Old Trace" is now a walkway leading to Mount Locust. |
| Rear View of Mount Locust The back of Mount Locust. The round structure in the foreground was a cistern for holding water. |
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