The Briars (Natchez, Mississippi)

The Briars is a historic house in Natchez, Mississippi, USA. It was built in 1818 for a large planter. Varina Davis, the First Lady of the Confederate States of America, spent her adolescence in the house. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Briars
Nearest cityNatchez, Mississippi
Area17.7 acres (7.2 ha)
Built1818 (1818)
NRHP reference No.77000778[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 24, 1977

History

The land was granted by Spain to Richard Bacon in 1784; it was purchased by Arthur Mahan in 1814.[2]

The house was built in 1818 for Judge John Perkins, a large planter.[2][3] It was designed by architect Levi Weeks.[3] When his wife died in 1824, Perkins tried to sell the house, but he rented it to William Burr Howell, the son of New Jersey Governor Richard Howell, from 1828 to 1850 instead.[2][3] Howell's daughter, Varina Howell, grew up at the house as a teenager; she later married Jefferson Davis and served as the First Lady of the Confederacy.[2][3]

The house was purchased by Walter Irvine in 1853, whose heirs sold it to Emma Augusta Wall in 1927.[2] By the 1970s, it belonged to Robert E. Canon and Newton Wilds.[2][3] It was subsequently repurposed as a bed and breakfast.[3]

Heritage significance

The house has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 24, 1977.[4]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form: Briars". National Park Service. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  3. Brooke, Steven (1999). The Majesty of Natchez. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 9781565541580. OCLC 40200427.
  4. "Briars". National Park Service. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
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