House on Ellicott's Hill

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

1. House on Ellicott's Hill Marker

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Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

2. House on Ellicott's Hill Marker

Looking east from North Canal Street; the marker is mounted above eye-level in the brick stairwell on the west side of the property.

From the National Register Nomination prepared by Dr. Paul Goeldner, 1/20/1974:
One of the first structures to be built after the Spanish laid out a new town on the Natchez bluff, this house was built by James Moore who acquired the property in 1797. Although Natchez was a frontier outpost at the time, it was also the first capital of Mississippi Territory after 1798. While Moore's house cannot compare to contemporary work in Philadelphia or Richmond, neither would they compare to London or Paris. The best available craftsmen worked on the house on Ellicott's Hill and favorably influenced the architectural tastes of a vast, developing area.
The plan of the Moore house is usually associated with Louisiana; there are no halls and each room opens directly outdoors. There are two stories, the lower, of brick, has very plain interior treatment; the upper, wood-framed and clapboarded, has well-detailed wood mantels, cornices, and door trim. The central room facing the river has a domical recess in the ceiling for hanging a chandelier. The surrounding rooms have slightly vaulted ceilings, disguising

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

3. House on Ellicott's Hill

Brick stairwell on the west side of the property.
The sign reads:The House on Ellicott Hill
Circa 1795
National Historic Landmark

their low height. The central roofline is a steep gable between the chimneys at each end of the central room; the surrounding roof is of a lower pitch.
The steep bluff site faces the Mississippi River. The two-story gallery on the river side is high above Canal Street while the upper story is at grade level at the rear where it is reached by bridges across a dry moat.
Restored in 1935-36 by architect Richard Koch for the Natchez Garden Club, the restoration primarily involved rebuilding collapsing masonry, removing nonoriginal partitions, repairing carpentry and plasterwork, and restoring the fine wood trim recorded by HABS in 1934. At the time of the restoration, it was believed that this was Connelly's Tavern, an establishment of importance in the history and legend of Natchez. Subsequent research indicates that this was not the tavern site.
It has also been associated with Andrew Ellicott's raising of the American flag at Natchez in February 1797, an event that must have occurred very near, but before the house was erected. In the years between 1816 and 1936, it saw use as a physician's house and office, a part of J. R. Gilreath's

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

4. House on Ellicott's Hill

West stairwell and two-story gallery overlooking the Mississippi River.

school (the site has also been called Gilreath's Hill), and a tenement.

Excerpt:  The House on Ellicott's Hill, also known as Connelly's Tavern, James Moore House, or Gilreath's Hill, is today a historic house museum. Built in 1798, it is the oldest surviving building in Natchez from its early territorial period. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974 and a Mississippi Landmark in 2001.
The House on Ellicott Hill is important as a grand and rare surviving example of an early vernacular building form once typical of the Lower Mississippi Valley. It is one of the first buildings in the Mississippi Territory to exhibit the definitive characteristics of the Federal style. The house features a distinctive roof shape created by surrounding shed roofs attached high on a central gable. Built into the side of a hill, the façade of the house is two-stories including a raised brick basement. On the rear elevation, where the basement is beneath ground level, the

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

5. House on Ellicott's Hill

This view of the east/hilltop facade deceptively appears to be a simple one-story building.

house reads as a single story. A dry moat across the rear provides light and ventilation for the basement rooms.
The House on Ellicott Hill stands on property acquired as a Spanish grant in 1797 by Natchez merchant James Moore. Construction probably began after January 1798. The hill was the site of the encampment of Andrew Ellicott, sent by President George Washington to survey the boundary of the new Mississippi Territory with Spain. According to Dr. William Morton ("Andrew Ellicott, Stargazer"), it was Ellicott who first raised the American flag from this hill, to which Spanish Governor Gayoso responded by aiming his fort's cannon in its direction.
An 1805 city tax roll documents the house as having a tax valuation of $8,000, second in value only to Texada, which was built ca. 1798, documented as the city's first brick house, and valued at $12,000.

Excerpt:  The House on Ellicott Hill stands remarkably preserved on a perch where General Andrew Ellicott first raised the American Flag over Natchez

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

6. House on Ellicott's Hill

This northeast corner view shows access to the dry moat across the rear that provides light and ventilation for the basement rooms.

on February 27th, 1797. The house has been well-maintained and is one of the earliest structures built in Natchez. The House on Ellicott’s Hill is open for tours during Spring, Fall & Christmas Pilgrimages. Tickets may be purchased via Little Easy Tours or by calling the Natchez Garden Club.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 24, 2025

7. House on Ellicott's Hill

Looking east across North Canal Street.