The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-11-02
MOTORISTS NOW TRAVELLING
OVER FAMED NATCHEZ TRACE

indians who more than two GEN.
0I1es ago travelled along torturous
WMderness trails between Natchez
Au4 Nashville would no doubt get
netnlng OF surprise today
IRE 1t possible for them to speed
ing the Natchez Trace Parkway
ing developed by the federal
uDvernment.
Twentieth century travellers will
next summer be able to cover
~ miles of the road over which
Urly pioneers made their way in
the Southwest Territory back
- 1898.
Actually only % miles of the
arkway has been hardsurfaced
date. This section extends from
1Ndgeland on U. S. Highway 81
ortheastward, touching p earl
lver at two points. However, the
Ational Park Service at present
Is projects totaling~ about Sc
5000 under construction n
ALBANIA, Tennessee and Missis-
ppi. Forty-one additional miles
Mississippi will be completed
next June. 4~gS.& EI M
When completed eventually, the
eace Will extend for $50 miles,
allowing closely the original trails
rst made by wild animals, fol-
wed by Indians of various tribes
these areas OF the South. and
nally by explorers, pion r
1ttlers and soldiers.
Is BY treaty with the Choctaw and
hickasaw Indians. the United
bates acquired the right to de-
yelop the Natchez Trace into a
uagon road and mail route in the
Nrly 1905. But for many years
ne journey over the Trace re-
1ained a hard and perilous one
due not SO much to the Red Man
- to the blood thirsty bandits who
aOund easy picking on the wilder
ness trail Lafayette knew its
4ardships, as did Meriweather
Lewis, Andrew Jackson, Henry
Clay and many another we'll
known figure of history.
Development of the historic
road into q Parkway. extending
between Natchez and Nashville,
was adopted as a project of the
National Parkway Service in the
1S3O's.
The Parkway has been designed
exclusively for pleasure travel and
= unique in that no advertising
signs or commercial developments
are permitted within rights-of-way
being acquired by the government
tor the project. Commercial trucks
are not permitted to use the road.
Average width of the Parkway
- 500 feet. The road being con-
1tructed by the Park Service fol-
lows closely the old trails which
took advantage Of the natural con-
tour of the land. b apase
The historic and scenic features
OF the area have been preserved
by the builders and numerous
picnic areas and nature trails have
been placed along the route for
the convenience of Travellers.
Malcomn Gardner, superintend-
ent of the project with head
quarters in Tupelo, voiced some
, uncertainty as to how the inter
national situation might affect the
present construction program.
Actual work ON the project
started back in 1897, but all work
was halted by World War II. At
that time los miles of grading and
minor drainage had been complet-
ed, including a section in the
Ridgeland area. This latter sec
ton, Garner said. was treated
with a sterilization black topping
which was not intended as a perm
anent surfacing. This rapidly de-
Perforated during the War years,
a. engineers expected, but has
since been replaced with a smooth
hard-surfaced covering over which
thr0ngs Of Sunday and holiday
motorists are travelling today.
In addition to the section of
road completed in Mississippi, the
Park Service now has nearly 80
miles of Parkway road nearly
ready for hard-surfacing in Ala
bama and Tennessee. A total of
1O8 miles of right-of-way in Mis-