Melmont: Partially Gone
- Jay Brothers
- Mar 19
- 1 min read
715 Rankin St. Natchez, MS
Circa 1855 . 2.5 story white home
Henry Basil Shaw and Mary Elizabeth Lattimore built Melmont. They wed in 1839. She took the first three letters of her names and the fact that the mansion was on an elevation to name the homestead Melmont. He was a prominent Louisiana lawyer.
Over the decades, much of the acreage has been sold, and modern homes erected around the historic homestead. Shaw family resided until 1912. Sold to Henderson family which also owned Magnolia Hall - John Waldo Henderson (1832-1916) and Ellen Jane Newman Henderson (1836-1923). They remodeled the home.
In 1940, Mrs. Mary Ellen "Nellie" Henderson (Mrs. John Richardson) Ayres (1859-1951) and her sister Corinne Henderson Ayres (1888-1894)were owners and had been for years. Corinne is the widow of John Henderson.
1957, sold to another family which retains possession and children live out of town.
In 2015, Melmont made 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi. Over the years in the twentieth century, the home has fallen into disrepair.
In 2016, the owners were Frances Oberlin Stephens and Sam Oberlin. A few months after being notified by the Natchez Preservation Commission to stabilize the home, a portion of the structured caved in. NR 1983 See Magnolia Hall
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