NATCHEZ &045; If local history lives in family pictures and memoirs, then Camille Harris has a treasure of each to share.

A Vidalia native, Camille is now the resident manager at Bienville Apartments on Commerce Street in Natchez.

Among the family pictures that adorn the walls of her apartment is a black and white photo of a two-story Victorian house that her grandfather, Judge John Dale, once owned in Vidalia.

Camille was a 5-year-old girl when the house was moved &045; along with the Town of Vidalia &045; in 1939.

&uot;The river was right against the levee then. They put it on logs and pulled it back with mules,&uot; Camille said.

Camille said residents were without electricity for several weeks until power was restored to homes and businesses. But the inconvenience was exciting for a young girl.

&uot;We used lanterns to see by until they got the electricity hooked up again. I thought it was just great,&uot; she said.

About a year later, Camille watched from her grandfather’s front porch as the first bridge was built connecting Vidalia and Natchez.

But Miss-Lou residents didn’t immediately start traveling between the two towns on daily basis.

&uot;It was a toll bridge then. People used to go to Natchez once a week to go shopping,&uot; Camille said.

Camille recalls her grandfather watching traffic on the bridge after it was opened.

&uot;He used to say, ‘Daughter, I counted 25 cars that went across that bridge today,’&uot; Camille said.

A mother of seven children, Camille said she was always very close to her grandfather.

She has the diary he kept with his wife from 1883 until 1886.

Her grandfather wrote the last entry in the journal after his wife and daughter both died of pneumonia in 1886: &uot;Oh Mamma, what great pain it causes me to close this, none but myself and God know. Mamma, once more forever, goodbye.&uot;

&uot;He was the father figure in my life. I cry every time I read that,&uot; Camille said.

Judge Dale later attended Tulane Law School and returned to Vidalia where he practiced law for many years.