By Mary Kathryn Carpenter

NATCHEZ — Natchez is trending well in USA Today’s Top Ten Small Southern Town poll and has continued to climb the ranks.

As of Tuesday late afternoon, Natchez was sitting pretty at number nine on the list and has the potential to keep climbing past other well-known southern communities.

Kevin Kirby, Natchez’s Convention and Visitors Bureau director, is impressed by Natchez’s standing among it’s competition.

“We are in the mix with Beaufort, S.C., and a number of other communities,” Kirby said.

Among those other communities are Natchitoches, La., Destin, Fla., and Eureka Springs, Ark.

Visit Natchez Public Relations Manager Jessica Cauthen is excited about Natchez being nominated and thrilled to see the city sliding through the ranks.

“This is a pretty big deal,” Cauthen said. “Out of all the small southern towns, we got nominated in the top 20.”

Cauthen also has hopes for what this will do for Natchez’s tourism industry.

“If we do win something like this, or even just get mentioned, it puts Natchez on the map,” Cauthen said. “We want everyone to appreciate Natchez as much as we do.”

The easiest way to show appreciation is to vote.

You can vote from any computer or mobile device once a day at 10best.com/awards.

Voting ends May 25.