NATCHEZ — The Natchez Trace Parkway Association is working to create a local Trace chapter in Natchez to promote historical sights along this historic trail.

The association — the group formed to push the completion of the Natchez Trace Parkway — will create local chapters in the three states the 444-mile road stretches through.

With more than 310 miles of the parkway running through Mississippi, three chapters will be created for Mississippi — northern, central and southern chapters.

Association President Tony Turnbow, of Franklin, Tenn., said the southern chapter would be based in Natchez.

Each chapter will serve as a committee of the Natchez Trace Parkway Association.

Turnbow said the local chapters will allow members to hone in and focus on projects in their area.

“The reason is because the parkway is 444 miles long,” Turnbow said. “People are more likely to be dedicated to projects and meetings if it’s in their area.”

Turnbow said he hopes to have the southern chapter in Natchez formed in the coming months.

“We have not officially created that chapter yet, but we have had a few meetings in Natchez with some potential members,” Turnbow said. “Within two or three months, we hope that members in Natchez will be ready to elect a chair.”

The chapters would include a chair, vice chair and recording secretary positions all voted on by current association members.

Turnbow said responsibilities would include developing and raising support efforts for sites along the section of the trace.

“Members would be encouraged to take on a project in their own area to help promote the interpretation of the parkway,” Turnbow said. “The main goal is for someone riding on the Trace to let them know the historic story of what happened on the Natchez Trace and who traveled it.”

Located just off of U.S. 61, the Emerald Mound Site, the second largest Native American ceremonial mound in the country, is one project Turnbow said the Natchez chapter could spearhead.

“The main point of all this is telling of the story of the Trace,” Turnbow said. “Once the road was completed in 2005, a lot of people thought that was it, but a lot of the sites along the parkway that tell the stories are not complete.”

Natchez Pilgrimage Tours Executive Director Marsha Colson is a member of the association and said she has met with Turnbow to discuss several projects along the trace.

“They’re working hard to get more recognition and public exposure on the trace,” Colson said. “That way it’s more on people stopping and enjoying it, instead of just driving it.”

While Colson said she has not been approached by Turnbow to be a leader in the southern chapter, she feels the local initiatives are vital to keeping the Trace alive and bringing more visitors to Natchez.

“In telling the story and publicizing the story of the Trace, we will attract more people along the Trace to come to Natchez,” Colson said. “Tourism is competitive just like any other business, so we need to fight to get people here and the more people we have in Natchez, the better.”