Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi

Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi
Ghost town
A view of Ellis Cliffs in 1896
A view of Ellis Cliffs in 1896
Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi is located in Mississippi
Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi
Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi
Location within the state of Mississippi
Coordinates: 31°24′06″N 91°27′07″W / 31.40167°N 91.45194°W / 31.40167; -91.45194
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyAdams
Elevation
66 ft (20 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID691838[1]

Ellis Cliffs is a ghost town in Adams County, Mississippi, United States.[1]

Situated atop a high chalky bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, the white cliffs were frequently mentioned by early river voyagers.[2]

The settlement was located approximately 14 mi (23 km) south of Natchez, and approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) northeast of Hutchins Landing.

History

The settlement is named for Richard Ellis, a native of Virginia who moved to the area with his family around 1785.[2][3] Prior to Ellis, the Lieutenant Governor of West Florida, Montfort Browne, received a grant of land at this place and planned to locate the civil government at the site.[4]

The Ellis family were one of the first to permanently settle in southwestern Mississippi, which was then still under Spanish rule.[2]

Ellis established a plantation known as "White Cliffs", where "towering cliffs lined the east side of the river, providing a floodproof access to the water and vast acres of virgin land and timber".[5]: 8 [1][2] The foundations of the family's first home were still visible in the early 1900s.[5]

When Ellis died in 1792, he had accumulated 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of land, and more than 150 slaves.[2]

By 1800, both the settlement and the cliffs were known as "Ellis Cliffs".[2]

British artist William Constable visited America between 1806–08 and painted View Down the Mississippi from Ellis's Cliffs, 28 Feby. 1807.[6][7] Artist John Rowson Smith traveled the Mississippi River before the Civil War and painted The Cotton Region, which included a scene of "the house of a colored slave owner at Ellis Cliffs".[8]: 87  Henry Lewis also painted the river, and described Ellis Cliffs as "strikingly bold, wild, and picturesque".[8]: 87 

During the Civil War, Confederate batteries were installed at the top of Ellis Cliffs.[9]

The former settlement is today covered by forest, and bordered to the north by the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge.

References

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ellis Cliffs
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bragg, Marion (1977). "Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River" (PDF). Mississippi River Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  3. ^ Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi. Goodspeed. 1891. pp. 473.
  4. ^ Great Britain. Historical Manuscripts Commission. Dartmouth, William Legge, Earl of, 1731-1801. (1972). The manuscripts of the Earl of Dartmouth. Vol. 2, American papers. Boston, Mass. : Gregg Press. Series: British accounts of the American Revolution. The American Revolutionary series. pp. 125-126, p. 212.
  5. ^ a b Miller, Mary Carol (2010). Lost Mansions of Mississippi. Vol. 2. University Press of Mississippi. p. 8. ISBN 9781604737875.
  6. ^ Black, Patti Carr (2007). The Mississippi Story. University Press of Mississippi. p. 43. ISBN 9781887422147.
  7. ^ "William Constable (1783-1861)". Spartacus Educational. April 9, 2004.
  8. ^ a b Black, Patti Carr (1998). Art in Mississippi, 1720-1980. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 87.
  9. ^ "Two Narrow Escapes on the Mississippi". Civil War Daily Gazette. Retrieved May 4, 2015.[permanent dead link]