Est. 1798 · Federal Civil War occupation headquarters (1863-1864) · Three distinct construction eras (1798, 1826, 1858) · Twin towers reconstructed after a 1920s fire
The Towers sits on the north end of Natchez on a roughly five-acre estate at 801 Myrtle Avenue. Its core was built in 1798, late in the period when Natchez was passing from Spanish to American control. The earliest section was built in a West Indies architectural idiom characteristic of the Gulf-Caribbean trade.
The home was expanded in 1826 and again in 1858, with the later additions introducing Neo-Classical and Italian Renaissance Revival elements that are now considered among the finest examples of Italianate residential architecture in the lower Mississippi Valley. The mansion's signature twin third-story towers — which gave the property its name — date from this mid-19th-century expansion.
The Fleming family owned The Towers as their long-term 19th-century residence. During the U.S. occupation of Natchez beginning in 1863, the house was commandeered as headquarters for Federal forces; troops lived in the mansion alongside the Fleming family until the family was evicted from their own home in 1864.
A fire in the 1920s destroyed the original twin tower rooms; the other tower was taken down the same year. Recent restoration work has rebuilt the towers to the historic profile. The property today is operated as a historic house museum and event venue, with a published interior collection that includes Moser and Vaseline glass, antique American decorative arts, beaded and mesh purses, and a notable collection of crowns and tiaras. Like every Natchez town home of its scale and period, The Towers' 19th-century operation depended on the labor of enslaved people.
Sources
- https://countryroadsmagazine.com/travel/overnight-escapes/the-towers-of-natchez/
- https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/history/the-towers-of-natchez/
- https://visitnatchez.org/listing/towers-the/
Apparitions of Civil War-era Federal soldiersApparitions of 19th-century Fleming family membersFlickering lightsSlamming doors
According to Country Roads Magazine, The Towers' paranormal narrative centers on three categories of phenomena: ghostly apparitions, flickering lights, and slamming doors. The reported spirits are described in two groups: Federal troops who occupied the building during the Civil War, and members of the Fleming family who lost loved ones and possessions in the home during the 19th century.
The mansion itself operates 'The Haunting of The Towers — A Tour of the Paranormal,' a regularly scheduled evening tour that interprets the home's ghost narratives in situ. Visit Mississippi promotes The Towers as a paranormal destination as part of its Haunted Mississippi travel campaign.
The specific identities and dates of the Fleming family tragedies referenced in the home's tour materials are not currently well-documented in the public web record beyond the home's own marketing, so individual claims should be confirmed against the on-site interpretation. The Federal-troop sightings are anchored by the documented 1863-1864 occupation of the mansion.
Notable Entities
Fleming familyFederal occupation soldiers