Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 31°24′06″N 91°27′07″W / 31.40167°N 91.45194°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Mississippi |
County | Adams |
Elevation | 66 ft (20 m) |
Time zone | UTC-6 ( Central (CST)) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
GNIS feature ID | 691838 [1] |
Ellis Cliffs is a ghost town in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. [1]
Situated atop a high chalky bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, the white cliffs were frequently mentioned by early river voyagers. [2]
The settlement was located approximately 14 mi (23 km) south of Natchez, and approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) northeast of Hutchins Landing.
The settlement is named for Richard Ellis, a native of Virginia who moved to the area with his family around 1785. [2] [3] Prior to Ellis, the Lieutenant Governor of West Florida, Montfort Browne, received a grant of land at this place and planned to locate the civil government at the site. [4]
The Ellis family were one of the first to permanently settle in southwestern Mississippi, which was then still under Spanish rule. [2]
Ellis established a plantation known as "White Cliffs", where "towering cliffs lined the east side of the river, providing a floodproof access to the water and vast acres of virgin land and timber". [5]: 8 [1] [2] The foundations of the family's first home were still visible in the early 1900s. [5]
When Ellis died in 1792, he had accumulated 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of land, and more than 150 slaves. [2]
By 1800, both the settlement and the cliffs were known as "Ellis Cliffs". [2]
British artist William Constable visited America between 1806–08 and painted View Down the Mississippi from Ellis's Cliffs, 28 Feby. 1807. [6] [7] Artist John Rowson Smith traveled the Mississippi River before the Civil War and painted The Cotton Region, which included a scene of "the house of a colored slave owner at Ellis Cliffs". [8]: 87 Henry Lewis also painted the river, and described Ellis Cliffs as "strikingly bold, wild, and picturesque". [8]: 87
During the Civil War, Confederate batteries were installed at the top of Ellis Cliffs. [9]
The former settlement is today covered by forest, and bordered to the north by the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge.