Dunleith

Dunleith
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
File:Dunleith by Highsmith.jpg
Location	84 Homochitto Street, Natchez, Mississippi
Coordinates
Area	40 acres (16 ha)
Built	1855
Architectural style	Greek Revival
NRHP Reference #	72000684
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 14, 1972
Designated NHL	December 2, 1974

Dunleith is an antebellum mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The previous building, Routhland had been built by Job Routh in the 1790s and passed down to his daughter Mary Routh. When it was struck by lightning and burned down in 1855, her husband, General Charles G. Dahlgren rebuilt the home. It was sold for $30,000 in 1858 (equal to $820,500 today) to Alfred Vidal Davis who renamed it Dunleith. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

The 12 room main house sits on 40 acres (16 ha) along with several outbuildings including a carriage house, a dairy barn, a poultry house, and a three story brick courtyard building that historically would have housed the kitchen, laundry and slave quarters. The main house has a Greek revival design and includes 26 Tuscan columns built of brick and stucco. There are porches around the entire building on the first and second floor. The first floor includes windows similar to those in Monticello which would roll up to become doorways.

The 1957 film, Raintree County was partly filmed at Dunleith, as was a portion of the 1974 version of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn by Columbia Pictures, and an episode of Promised Land for CBS television in 1998.

Dunleith has been a historic house museum offering tours for hotel and restaurant guests as well as a historic inn since 1976. It is currently used as a hotel, restaurant and event venue. The historic inn has 22 guest rooms divided amongst the main house, courtyard and dairy barn buildings. Multiple venue spaces accommodate a variety of purposes, including weddings, conferences, tour groups and reunions. The Castle Restaurant & Pub located in the former carriage house - constructed circa 1790 - serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Among its notable occupants was John Roy Lynch, born a slave at Tacony Plantation in Louisiana and self-educated, who would go on to become the first African-American Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Mississippi State Legislature and one of the first African-American U.S. Congressmen. He studied law, authored several articles and books, and would serve in several appointed political and military positions during a long career. After his death in Chicago 1939 at the age of 92, Lynch was buried with military honors in Arlington National Cemetery, due his service as a Congressman and military officer.

External links

• Dunleith - official site
• Natchez Pilgrimage Tours - provides mansion tours including Dunleith