Natchez. It’s a word that’s difficult to describe exactly. For history buffs, it’s all about the things that have happened here — from Native Americans to early French and English settlers to early Americans.

But for local residents, we pay attention to our past, nay, we carefully protect it and preserve it, but it doesn’t define us.

Sure the Natchez story has prominent chapters devoted to history, but the Natchez story is also a story of the present, the here and the now.

Today, our newspaper publishes its annual Profile section and this year the theme is: This is Our Story.

The story of Natchez is one that’s unfolding with each passing day and if you’re reading this, it’s quite likely that you have a role to play in that story and how the next chapter will play out.

You see Natchez has and always will be a people town. We invited strangers into our houses, we love having parties and we genuinely like one another. We’re a strange melting pot of cultures sometimes, but it works.

Natchez works, and it works because of the people who love and lead her.

We hope you enjoy Profile and the brief look at our story.