No “Bah Humbugs” allowed at Friends of the Library Christmas Tour of Homes on Sunday, December 6, from 2-5 p.m. We guarantee to get you in the holiday mood as you visit homes seldom open to the public.

Tickets are $15 for one or $25 for two and and may be purchased in advance at the Library or Natchez Pilgrimage Tours (Visitor’s Center) and at any home on the day of the tour.

The four homes on tour this year tell rich and varied stories of Natchez, past and present. All are in areas listed in the Historic Register of Historic Places. A huge thank-you goes to Mimi Miller for assistance and for her work in preserving these Natchez treasures. Thanks to the homeowners for sharing during the busy season.

Meg and Mac Hazlip have restored Elward (612 Washington Street), typical of the Greek Revival brick cottages built in the 1830s. Richard Elward was a book binder and served in several positions before his early death. His widow, Mary, survived until 1880 when ownership passed to his daughter, Laura Elward Monteith, a charter member of the Natchez Progressive Study Club and was president of the Confederate Memorial Association. She owned the home until her death in 1935, after which the house became home to the Abbot family for more than fifty years.

The McCullough and Stout homes were part of the property of Henrietta Harrison, subdivided in 1883 to create new lots for the growing town and extended Commerce and Union south of Orleans.

Marcia and John McCullough’s lovely Victorian at 408 South Commerce was built on a lot purchased in October 1883 by Bette Ullman Benjamin, wife of Samuel L. Benjamin, a grocer and liquor dealer. The McCullough’s have done extenseve modeling of this house and also transformed a portion of Pearl into cottages.

Lou Ellen and Guy Stout, 415 South Commerce, turned a house that needed work into a modern family home while maintaining its historic exterior. Neighborhood charm convinced them to undertake the restoration which included removing the remnants of outhouses in the back yard and filling a 30-foot cistern beneath the kitchen floor.

Dr. Will and Jan Austin’s home, 203 Clifton Avenue, boasts a beautiful river view. In 1885, William Howard Pritchartt, a steamboat purser, fell in love with a passenger, Miss Anne Mounger.  They married, came to Natchez and bought two lots on the bluff. In 1900, they completed their home for the sum of $3,700, and it was occupied by Pritchartts until 2011. Their daughter  Miss Annet Pritchartt was born in 1895 and lived there until her death in 1992. Miss Pritchartt taught mathematics at the old Natchez High for forty years. Longtime residents remember her fondly. Thanks to Elodie Pritchartt for her help.

All proceeds support library programs. Get into the holiday spirit and help a good cause. It is a full weekend so enjoy all the activities.

For additional information visit www.NatchezLibraryFriends.org or 601-445-8862.

 

Maria Bowser is the President of the Friends of the Library.