Jefferson College

The first educational institution chartered in the Mississippi Territory opened in 1802 on grounds outside Natchez, named for President Thomas Jefferson, who authorized the territorial charter. The city itself had been renamed for the Natchez people in 1763, decades after the 1729 war that destroyed French settlements in the area and scattered the Natchez as refugees, captives, or dead. By the time Jefferson College received its charter, Natchez had passed through French, British, and Spanish hands before entering American territorial administration—a Mississippi River port remade by whoever last held it. In 1807, Aaron Burr faced a preliminary hearing on these grounds. The former vice president stood accused here, the matter weighty enough to convene formal proceedings at the territorial college. John James Audubon taught drawing at Jefferson College, his tenure adding another improbable thread to the institution's early years. The college is a National Historic Landmark. A nature trail runs through old-growth forest on the grounds—the kind of walk that earns its time. Admission to the grounds is free; the museum operates by donation.