Kimmy Purple, Jon Purple, Jess Purple and Matt Meyer enjoy a late lunch on the porch of The Camp restaurant. The porch has become a popular place to eat and watch the activity on the Mississippi River. (Ben Hillyer/The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Post-casino, life at Natchez Under-the-Hill goes on.

And while business owners in the area all expressed sadness to see nearly 240 jobs leave town along with the barge that housed the Isle of Capri casino and its predecessor, Lady Luck, for 22 years, they say the impact of the closure on other Under-the-Hill businesses has been minimal.

The faux-riverboat gaming facility may have shared proximity with the other businesses, but for the most part they did not apparently share an exchange of customers.

“The honest truth is, as much as the casino brought to Natchez — and I am sorry for the loss of jobs and the way it ended up — it hasn’t affected my business,” said Gail Guido, owner of Silver Street Gallery and Gifts and an Under-the-Hill resident.

“There hasn’t been an impact at all. When people came to go to the casino, they pretty much went to the casino and that was it.”

Magnolia Grill owner John Parks said at one time the casino would send some of its big customers to Magnolia Grill, but that stopped some time ago.

“The people going to the casino were going to the casino, they weren’t eating (here) first or anything like that,” he said.

At The Camp restaurant, owner Mike Wagner said business has remained steady, but one thing he has noticed was overall traffic Under-the-Hill is down.

“Since we’re kind of at the top, people going to the boat weren’t coming into the restaurant, and so the one thing I have noticed is less traffic,” Wagner said. “Without the boat, the traffic is more targeted. When somebody is down here, it is either to go to a specific place or to get down and see a view of the river.”

Wagner said with or without gaming, businesses Under-the-Hill continue to benefit from the district’s established reputation.

“We have been here long enough where locals know about us and come down often just to visit us, maybe stick around and go to the Under-the-Hill Saloon,” he said.

“I think there are folks who are going out of their way to come to Under-the-Hill regardless if there is a casino. Tourists come down because they have read about it in books or heard about it in movies, or they have heard about it because it is a very historical part of Natchez.”

That’s an observation Guido said she’s made as well.

“When you look at the people who come here, where they are from and where they are going, you would be amazed how many people come to Natchez Under-the-Hill because they read about it — not because of the casino, but they want to come because of the history,” she said.

The other thing that is going to draw people to the Under-the-Hill area is a view of the Mississippi River, Wagner said.

With the casino moved from its former dock, that view is now unobscured.

The only drawback for those who want to visit for that reason is they might expect a more park-like setting, Guido said.

“It is a gem down here, and we all should try and make it even more interesting for the people coming to Natchez, because they are going to come (Under-the-Hill),” she said.

Guido said she was thankful the Isle of Capri worked quickly to move the boat from the dock once the casino closed. The casino closed Oct. 18, and the barge was towed upriver Nov. 20.

“It was such a quick, clean removal, so it wasn’t something that drug on for a long time and created negativity visually,” she said.

The biggest difference at Magnolia Grill is — after being neighbors to the casino’s corporate offices for years — now they don’t see the familiar faces of people working next door, Parks said.

“I started working Under-the-Hill when I was 16, before the casino was even here,” he said. “It’s kind of like things have gone full circle.”