Walking Tours of Yazoo City's Historic Homes

Yazoo City is somewhat distinctive among Mississippi towns in that it is a planned community. Unlike many other places in the State that grew up around the happenstance barn, gin or store, Yazoo City's location was carefully selected by some of the most successful speculators of the Jacksonian era.

It was first chosen in 1826 by the wily half-French Indian chief, Greenwood Leflore, who received the acreage on which Yazoo City was built as a part of the Treaty of Doak's Stand.

Leflore, in turn, sold it within a few months for $10 an acre to a group of developers who laid out the town on a precise grid plan and called it Manchester. The streets were named after presidents and after the developers themselves and the lots were auctioned off between 1830-1834.

By 1839, the citizens had developed a sense of place that made the name Manchester inappropriate. The town had become the largest community in the county and had the potential of becoming the marketing center of several counties.

The name that most clearly described these facts was chosen as the legal title of the town. The town was inextricably tied to the river Yazoo. It took the name that described this focus: YAZOO CITY.

It is a pleasure to share the Yazoo Historical District with you. As you make your tour, please remember that the residences are private, not open to public visits except by special arrangements with the owners or a events scheduled by the community. It is requested that all homes be viewed from the sidewalk next to the street and that care be taken not to intrude upon the privacy and quiet residential integrity of the neighborhood.