Pictured above- The Vidalia Riverfront landing in 2001
Vidalia was founded nearly eight decades after frenchmen founded fort Rosalie in 1716 in what is now Natchez. Spaniards were the first to fly a flag over the site of Vidalia, and a Spaniard. Don Jose Vidal, is one from which Vidalia takes its name.
A sister city to Natchez, Vidalia has been home to famous people and the site of famous events. Although some controversy exists about the exact location,Vidalia lays claim to the sandbar where it is said the famous Jim Bowie sandbar duel tookk place. The city hosts a festival each year to commemorate the historic event.
As the 19th century turned, the land around Vidalia turned white3 as snow in the fall, as the rich alluvial soil proved perfect for growing the new cash crop - cotton.
John R. Lynch was born at Tacony, one of the plantations near Vidalia.
The son of a slave mother and the plantation's overseer, Lynch worked as a boy at the mansion Dunleith in Natchez.
when freed during the Civil War, Lynch began working toward a career in politics in Mississippi, first becoming a justice of the peace in Natchez and then going on to the state Legislature and finally to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Vidalia felt the effects of the Civil War, especially the downslide in the economy due to the inactivity on cotton plantations.
Also like Natchez, however, the return of cotton and steamboats gave a new boost to the community in the late 1800s.
Vidalia sat on the riverfront for many decades and suffered numerous floods. It was the great flood in 1927 that finally pushed Congress to create law that required a levee system and caused Vidalia in 1938 and 1939 to be moved from its riverfront site to its present location slightly away from the river and behind a protective levee.
In 1940, the first bridge was built to connect Vidalia to Natchez. The second was constructed in 1988.
A unique project in Vidalia was the construction of the Sidney A. Murray Jr. Hydroelectric Station, the first hydroelectric power plant in Louisiana and believed to be the largest pre-fabricated power plant in the world.
Vidalia and Natchez have a history that is intertwined. What affects one side of the river usually affects the other.
In recent years, Vidalia has moved progressively to develop its riverfront. A riverwalk, a hotel, an amphitheater, a conference center and a medical center are among the additions.
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Home > News & Announcements > Vidalia truly 'on the move'
