submitted photo — Twenty seven panels showcasing the array of multi-cultural heritage on St. Catherine Street will be on display to the public Thursday at the Historic Natchez Foundation’s annual meeting. The panels are part of the second phase of the Natchez Trails Project.

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Panels display history of St. Catherine Street

Published 12:10am Tuesday, January 22, 2013

NATCHEZ — Natchezians have a chance to take the first look at 27 of 32 panels showcasing the array of multi-cultural heritage on St. Catherine Street Thursday at the Historic Natchez Foundation’s annual meeting.

HNF Executive Director Mimi Miller said meeting attendees can take a short stroll down the hallway of the Natchez Institute on South Commerce Street to see the panels before they are installed on a four-fifths of a mile stretch of St. Catherine Street for the second phase of the Natchez Trails Project.

The interpretive panels highlight predominantly African-American heritage, as well as Danish, Polish, French, Lebanese and Italian.

Miller said one panel is completely dedicated to the Stallone family because of their continuing presence on St. Catherine Street.

Miller said she, Friends of the Forks of the Road Coordinator Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley, City Engineer David Gardner and many members of the community worked together to find information and photographs for the panels.

The St. Catherine Street-Forks of the Road Trails project will extend along St. Catherine Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Street to the site of the Forks of the Road slave markets.

Like the first phase of the Natchez Trails Project, the second phase will include upgraded sidewalks, landscaping, lighting and the interpretive panels.

The second phase will cost approximately $800,000 and will be funded through several different sources. The city’s cost has already been set aside and will be approximately $120,000.

“We’re excited about the panels,” Miller said. “It’s a history that a lot of people don’t know, it’s not history that’s written a lot about.”

The HNF annual meeting will also give the public an opportunity to see the renovations that have been made to the Natchez Institute, which houses the foundation, Miller said.

“The institute is a never-ending work in progress because when we acquired it, it was in very bad shape,” she said.

The foundation has opened up three more classrooms and has finished and furnished a research library.

“We’re excited about the public seeing the changes to the building,” Miller said.

The meeting is free and open to the public, Miller said.

A cocktail reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by an awards ceremony and the election of new board members at 6:45 p.m.

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  • Anonymous

    Are there any panels devoted to people on St. Catherine St. staggering back from Four Points Package store?

  • Anonymous

    Doc Fungo, > JIM CROW < THAT FOUR POINT PACKAGE STORE WERE OWN BY WHITE PEOPLE. NOW JIM CROW WAS MORE IN PLAY DOING THAT TIME. THAT WHITE OWN LIQUOR STORE ON THAT BLOCK OF ALL BLACKS. BLACKS WERE MAKING THAT WHITE MAN RICH, WHILE THE JIM CROW COPS WERE LOCKING THEM UP FROM BEING DRUNK OFF OF THAT SAME LIQUOR THEY BOUGHT FROM THAT WHITE MAN. CAN YOU SEE THE PICTURE ? YOUR PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT LIQUOR STORE DID THEY ? YOU CAN TELL ME, I WANT TELL ANYONE ELSE, I PROMISE.

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    As I said , you are too far gone-with so much hate you need to get professional help are we might be reading about you in the funny papers huh’??!! I haven’t heard a positive word on this forks of the road but hatred-What a mess!! Whats wrong with a whites owning the four points pkg. store for its a free country and your nothing but a agitator of making trouble between the two races!!

  • Anonymous

    It was an interesting neighborhood for its time, with a number of immigrant families living side-by-side with African-American families. My dad, who did a tremendous amount of research on Natchez history and genealogy (much of which he donated to the Armstrong Library), found lots of fascinating things about the area in the late 1800′s/early 1900′s. In fact, my great-grandparents lived close to Holy Family Church, but across the street, until the home burned in the early 1900′s. I still have a few of the original furnishings that were saved from that fire.

  • Anonymous

    Now if we can get the Stallone operation to clean up the eyesore storage lot next to their building on this main drag entryway into town, we can see progress. But, I guess it lets them blend in better with the surroundings to keep down vandalism.

  • Anonymous

    DD…you tell me. Were some of your relatives the ones buying liquor and hanging out on the street corner all night then staggering home around dawn? You can tell me…I “want” tell anyone…

  • Anonymous

    Why don’t you say something positive and quit talking hate where the only place it comes from is you.

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