NATCHEZ — Skipper Blackwell has enjoyed the peace and quiet at his home on Overton Road for five years now.

So much so that when The Dart landed on his street, Blackwell was woken up from a nap. But he didn’t seem to mind the company.

Blackwell said the home was built more than four decades ago, and he and his wife Debbie have enjoyed the neighborhood since moving there.

“Sim Mosby and his wife lived here before us, and the house was built by William Prather back in the 1960s, although I’m not sure of the exact year,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell said his wife and his youngest son Adam Blackwell chose to move in the house in order to be closer to the city. Adam graduated from Cathedral High School in 2010 and is currently majoring in public policy at Ole Miss.

“We lived in the county off of Highway 61 on the Natchez Trace,” Blackwell said. “Debbie and Adam both enjoyed being close to the town.

“Probably not having to cut a lot of grass was one reason. We loved the county, but Adam enjoyed tennis and was very active with the youth group at Jefferson Street United Methodist Church.”

Since moving closer to town, Blackwell said it’s dramatically cut down on driving time.

“We were sometimes making four round trips to Natchez a day,” he said. “It eats up both gas and time. You lost at least an hour (doing that). It’s just more convenient.”

Blackwell said Adam enjoyed playing tennis for Cathedral in his high school days, and that interest started when Adam took lessons at Duncan Park under Henry “Hawk” Harris.

“That’s when he became interested,” Blackwell said. “He was playing high school tennis when he was in junior high. Hawk actually coached him (at Cathedral) for one year.”

If there are two things about living on Overton Road that remain constant, Blackwell said, it’s the quietness and the deer.

“On a Saturday, you’ll see as many people walking, running and riding bikes as much as you see vehicles,” Blackwell said. “On school and work days, it’s a different story.”

The Blackwell’s house may be too peaceful though when it comes to the wildlife.

“When the Mosby family owned it, it was all glass in the back of the house,” Blackwell said.

“One time a deer got in and set off the alarm. My guess is the deer saw its reflection and thought it was another deer, and came to join it. They ended up catching the deer by the bathroom.”

After that, Blackwell said the Mosby family remodeled the back area of the house.

Blackwell also said it’s not uncommon for his family to see deer at night, especially when acorns start falling off their trees in the back yard.

“We saw as many as five bucks one night when we came home,” Blackwell said. “We enjoy watching them. We’ve seen some really nice ones.”

But he admits there was one buck he could have done without having over as a guest.

“We had one plant that got to be a pretty good size, but a buck killed it by rubbing its horns on the plant,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell works at Solar Supply, and his wife is an assistant district attorney. Blackwell has an older son named Lewis, and he’s also the brother of Cathedral head softball coach Gary Blackwell.