William Johnson House: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Natchez National Historical Park, National Park Service

The Jaeger Company; Hasty, David

The William Johnson House is located on a 0.14 acre city lot at 210 State Street in downtown Natchez, Mississippi. The two-and-one half story brick house fronts the street and the current (1897) two-story kitchen dependency sits parallel to the rear of the house. The original kitchen dependency was built perpendicular to the main house. To the immediate east of the Johnson House is the McCallum House, which sits on a .045-acre lot and is a two story brick building that shares its west wall with the east wall of the Johnson House. Directly behind the McCallum House is a small level yard space. Both of these lots comprise what is known as the William Johnson House Complex and total 0.20 acres. See Figure 3: Ownership Map. William Johnson's diary provides much in the way of documentation for the land use. Archaeological work has uncovered a wealth of artifacts to support these activities. (Atkinson). Johnson's diary documents the construction of a hen house, a corn house, a wash house, a carriage house, two subterranean brick cisterns, a cistern house, three small sheds, a replacement shed, a "back building" (kitchen dependency) and numerous animal pens. He also mentions the construction of several different types of fences, laying brick pavement, and digging a gutter. (Hogan and Davis, eds.) Through archeological investigation, evidence of several privies, a cistern, outbuildings, and brick and glass bottle edging materials for gardens and walkways has been located on the property. Existing above ground structures include a brick retaining wall on the east property line between the two main buildings and extending south beyond the kitchen; a gated wooden fence (removed in 2003 and rebuilt in 2004); and the recently refurbished two-story wooden porch at the rear of the William Johnson House. Further investigation of the retaining wall would be necessary in order to date it. In May of 1842, Johnson described his yard as having "few plants" and few plants exist on the site today. Existing vegetation includes a large Crape Myrtle on State Street, several clumps of Canna Lilies and one fig clump. A twin-trunk Devilwood is located near the kitchen dependency and a grassed lawn is the balance of open space. Johnson's diary mentions planting four Chinaberry Trees and later roses, however, there is no trace of any such plants on the site today. He also mentions buying lath to construct a fence around a vegetable garden. (Hogan and Davis, eds.) None of the existing plants are mature enough to date back to William Johnson's period of occupation in the 1800s, nor were they ever documented in his diary. However, some existing plant materials may have been introduced by the Johnson family, such as fig trees, and are referenced in an interview with Mary Louise Miller in the Supplemental Information Section. The front facade of the Johnson House is separated from the street by a concrete sidewalk and a rectangular planting strip, which contains grass and a substantial Crape Myrtle tree. This tree appears to be of an age that would date it back to 1920, the year of a documented building remodeling project. It is likely that a landscaping enhancement effort, such as planting a street tree, would have coincided with the building upgrades at that time.

William Johnson House: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Natchez National Historical Park, National Park Service

Series