| Official Name: | Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi |
| Settlement Type: | Ghost town |
| Pushpin Map: | Mississippi |
| Pushpin Label: | Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of Mississippi |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Mississippi |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Adams |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 66 |
| Coordinates: | 31.4017°N -91.4519°W |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 691838 |
Ellis Cliffs is a ghost town in Adams County, Mississippi, United States.
Situated atop a high chalky bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, the white cliffs were frequently mentioned by early river voyagers.[1]
The settlement was located approximately 14miles south of Natchez, and approximately 1miles northeast of Hutchins Landing.
The settlement is named for Richard Ellis, a native of Virginia who moved to the area with his family around 1785.[1] [2] Prior to Ellis, the Lieutenant Governor of West Florida, Montfort Browne, received a grant of land at this place and planned to locate the civil government at the site.[3]
The Ellis family were one of the first to permanently settle in southwestern Mississippi, which was then still under Spanish rule.[1]
Ellis established a plantation known as "White Cliffs", where "towering cliffs lined the east side of the river, providing a floodproof access to the water and vast acres of virgin land and timber".[4] [1] The foundations of the family's first home were still visible in the early 1900s.[4]
When Ellis died in 1792, he had accumulated 6000acres of land, and more than 150 slaves.[1]
By 1800, both the settlement and the cliffs were known as "Ellis Cliffs".[1]
British artist William Constable visited America between 1806–08 and painted View Down the Mississippi from Ellis's Cliffs, 28 Feby. 1807.[5] [6] Artist John Rowson Smith traveled the Mississippi River before the Civil War and painted The Cotton Region, which included a scene of "the house of a colored slave owner at Ellis Cliffs".[7] Henry Lewis also painted the river, and described Ellis Cliffs as "strikingly bold, wild, and picturesque".[7]
During the Civil War, Confederate batteries were installed at the top of Ellis Cliffs.[8]
The former settlement is today covered by forest, and bordered to the north by the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge.