Plans underway to build Natchez plaza honoring first Black congressman

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Plans are underway to develop a park here in honor of a U.S. senator from Natchez who served just one year but made a significant historical mark as the first Black member of Congress.

Hiram Revels’ brief stint came in 1870-71 as Mississippi was readmitted into the United States after the Civil War.

Government and private partners are planning to locate Hiram Revels Plaza on “The Triangle” at the intersection of St. Catherine, Martin Luther King and Jefferson streets.

This is being promoted as a fitting recognition of the nation’s first Black congressman and a spark for enhancing an historical but blighted area of the city. It’s part of the master plan adopted by the Board of Aldermen in 2018 to revitalize downtown Natchez.

The site is across the street from Zion Chapel AME Church, where Revels was pastor in 1866 when the congregation bought the building.

He began his political career when elected a Natchez alderman in 1868, according to the U.S. Congress’ biographical directory website.

He rapidly went on to higher office — winning a seat in the Mississippi Senate in 1869 and then selected to the U.S. Senate in 1870 as the nation’s first Black member of Congress. He filled a seat vacated when Mississippi seceded from the Union in 1861.

Revels served only one year to finish out the unexpired term and opted to return to Mississippi to become the first president of what’s now Alcorn State University.

While in the U.S. Senate, Revels favored amnesty for former Confederates and built a reputation as a political moderate loyal to the Republican party. According to Congressional records, Revels said “the Republican party is not inflamed … against the white population of the South. Its borders are wide enough for all truly loyal men to find within them some peace and repose from the din and discord of angry factions.”

Revels served as Alcorn president 1871-1874 and 1876-1882. He moved to Holly Springs to continue his religious work and died in 1901 at the age 73.

About $700,000 in total is needed to build Hiram Revels Plaza, said Michael Pace, a member of the Downtown Natchez Alliance board, the private group helping to plan and fund the project along with Zion Chapel and various government agencies.

Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and aldermen have a plan to initially earmark $150,000 for this as part of an array of city construction projects totaling more than $13 million. The Adams County Board of Supervisors is considering a request to also help fund Hiram Revels Plaza’s development.

Natchez recently received a $25,000 federal grant to combine with $30,000 in local funds for the preliminary design work being done for the site at the western end of St. Catherine Street. The next step is to collaborate with the National Park Service to ensure plans comply with the National Historic Preservation Act.