Laurel Hill Plantation
From Archiplanet
| Laurel Hill Plantation | |
| Designer | Hardie, James |
| Location | Natchez, Mississippi, USA |
| Date | 1837 |
| Building Type | Agriculture/Subsistence |
| Construction System | Brick, Stucco, Iron |
| Architectural Style | Gothic Revival |
| Street Address | S of Natchez off US 61 Walk Score |
| Notes |
Contents |
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| National Register of Historic Places | |
| Name | Laurel Hill Plantation |
| ID Number | 82000569 |
| NRHP Status | Listed In The National Register |
| Certification Date | 10/26/1982 |
| Level of Significance | Local |
| NRHP Documents | Text (pdf) ; Photos (pdf) |
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National Register of Historic Places
QUOTATION FROM DR. PIERCE BUTLER¹S (1948) BOOK "THE UNHURRIED YEARS", WHICH EXPLAINS THE HISTORY OF LAUREL HILL AND THE FAMILY WHO LIVED THERE. DR. BUTLER WAS THE DEAN OF NEWCOMB COLLEGE IN NEW ORLEANS AND SPENT HIS SUMMERS AT LAUREL HILL. THIS BOOK IS IN THE NATCHEZ PUBLIC LIBRARY'S "LOCK UP" ROOM - PROBABLY AVAILABLE IN MOST OTHER LARGE PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN LA AND MS.
"I do not know who designed the building, but the builder of the Chapel was a competent, and very eccentric, carpenter and contractor, old Mr. Hardy of Natchez. It is a brick building, stucco covered, about fifty by twenty-five feet, with a Gothic spire capped with iron. The window frames and all the woodwork are beautifully made and the tall, pointed windows filled with glass of excellent quality, the one at the back over the chancel being an oriel window about four feet in diameter, of lovely stained glass. The floor is of tessellated black and white marble squares about a foot in size, and in the chancel stand white marble statues and tablets. There is an alabaster christening font, standing on a lofty pedestal, about two and a half feet in diameter. There are no pews, but a congregation of possibly one hundred might be seated in chairs according to the European custom. There were rows and rows of these comfortable wooden chairs, some of them of a fine Dutch make, with rush bottoms. At the back there were two rows of wooden benches. The chancel floor, of dark wood with a heavy carved railing separating it from the nave, is raised about eighteen inches above the common level of the nave, and under the chancel is a brick vault in which the bodies of the family have been placed.
In the Inventory of the Church Archives of Mississippi, prepared by the Mississippi Historical Records Survey in 1940, there is this record of the Chapel, which is correct I think, except for the reference to the building as frame instead of brick."
"St, Mary's Church, 1839-c.-1850. Organized 1839, in which year, on April 28, a frame, gothic Church was consecrated by Rt. Rev. James Hervey Otey. In the same year, St. Mary's Church was received into the Diocese. The Church was built by W. Newton Mercer, on his plantation, Laurel Hill, about twelve miles below Natchez, on the old Woodville road. The Rev. Daniel H. Deacon, the first rector, in 1842, reported his chief work to be visiting through the week, the servants on the estates. In the same year, 118 colored persons were baptized. Again in 1843, the Rev. Mr. Deacon spoke of his principal and most important charge, the colored people. The following year there were 26 colored persons confirmed here by Bishop Otey. The building described as a most beautiful specimen of gothic architecture, is still standing, although not often used. There has been no parochial organization since about 1850. The Rev. Thomas Savage was, probably, the last resident rector, being there in 1845. The Journal of 1854 states that 'the parish has been for nearly five years unoccupied."
" Dr. Mercer provided a comfortable parsonage, situated about a half mile on the other side of the bayou. (In our part of the country we call the dry watercourses in the valleys by the same name which is applied in the Louisiana lowlands to their filled waterways.) The parsonage was a square, frame house built on a plan brought from Switzerland. It had four rooms upstairs over a high brick basement which provided four additional rooms, used for servants and supplies. The chimney was built in the center, providing fireplaces for each room. There were wide galleries upstairs on three sides."
"So far as I know, the only pastor of St. Mary's was Dr. Savage, who lived in the parsonage and who served here about ten years, afterwards going to Pass Christian, Mississippi. There could never have been a large congregation, although it is true that the period when the Chapel was in use there were families living on all the near-by plantations and many of them were Episcopalians. I know that some of the congregation came from Berkeley, the Conner place across Second Creek."
" The Chapel continued in use for some years after 1850 but now is left unused. Its statues and memorials are still there as it stands, facing an all-devouring time, alone with its memories."
