Natchez · Downtown & the Bluff
The Guest House Natchez
An 1840 house, the inn says, enlarged for the Elks in 1902–03; rooms are named for Hiram Revels, William Johnson and people who built or kept it.
- Built
- c. 1840Built 1840 as a one-and-a-half-story Greek Revival townhouse per the inn; the district nomination says mid-19th-century brick residence, remodeled 1902-03.
- Style
- Greek Revival; Colonial Revival
- Architect
- William Steitenroth (1902-03 enlargement)
- Type
- Inn
- Rooms
- 16
- Area
- Downtown & the Bluff
- Credentials
- Inside a National Register historic district
The story
Built in 1840 for Samuel and Jane Newman, the house went through several owners before the Natchez Elks Lodge, which had William Steitenroth add a full second floor and four columns in 1902-03. In 1981 Poole Investments bought it from the Elks to house VIP guests of the Eola Hotel across the street. The inn’s own account places the house a mile from the Forks of the Road slave market and credits the cotton wealth behind Natchez’s mansions to the labor of 14,000 enslaved people, sixty percent of the county. Its rooms are named for figures including William Johnson, John R. Lynch and Hiram Revels, and for people the inn lists among those who built or kept the house, such as William Martin and Louise. The inn describes itself as believed to be the largest Black-owned antebellum mansion hotel in America.
Good to know
- Address: 401 Franklin St, Natchez, MS 39120
Sources (4)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.