A small white wooden church stands surrounded by dense green trees, its arched windows and cupola partially covered by ivy as a dirt path leads to the entrance.

This vine‑covered 1850 church, known as Rodney Baptist Church or Mt. Zion Baptist Church No. 1, blends Greek Revival and Gothic Revival elements from its transitional era. Repeated Mississippi River flooding has left visible high‑water marks and severely weakened the structure.


Located just outside of Lorman, Mississippi and a short distance off the Natchez Trace Parkway is the ghost town of Rodney, Mississippi. Not much is left of this early nineteenth-century river settlement that is richly steeped in early American history. It is now all but forgotten and only visited by the most adventuresome travelers.


I first fell in love with an old black and white photograph of the Rodney Baptist Church many years ago placing Rodney Ghost Town high on my bucket list of places to photograph in Mississippi. Let me just say, it didn't disappoint!



A Brief History of Rodney


Although the town of Rodney, Mississippi is little known to history, it is one of the oldest settlements in Mississippi. As early as 1763, there was a French settlement here called Petit Gouffre (Little Chasm). After the French and Indian War, it became the domain of Great Britain. Then Spain, after it captured British West Florida in 1781. The area was known as Little Gulf by then. Although it was not really a gulf, it was a convenient river crossing first discovered and used by the Indians. By 1798, when Spain deeded it to Thomas Calvit, a prominent Mississippi Territorial landowner, the area was already considered prosperous.


A weathered wooden building with a rusted metal roof stands beside a dirt road, its fenced porch and peeling boards surrounded by grass, wildflowers, and dense green trees under bright daylight.

Imagine pulling up to this old country store for gas before heading down the dirt road. Once the Alston Grocery Store, this circa‑1840 building is an example of Greek Revival design.


From 1820 to 1860, Rodney was booming, and it finally incorporated into the town of Rodney in 1828. Strategically located on the lower terrace of the Loess Bluffs the relative steepness of the riverbanks here on the Mississippi River made it an ideal landing for riverboat transportation. It flourished as a vital river community becoming a center for commerce that rivaled Natchez. With its proximity to Oakland College, present-day Alcorn State University, it became a town of intelligence and culture settled by physicians, lawyers, and wealthy plantation owners. It almost became the first capital of the Mississippi Territory only losing out to Natchez by three votes. By the 1840s, it was the busiest port between New Orleans and St. Louis, and an important port of call for riverboats traveling the Mississippi. When Rodney peaked in the 1860s, around 4,000 people were living here; it had two banks, two newspapers, four churches, and approximately 35 stores. It was home to the first opera house in the state. Plays as good as anything you could attend in New York, or Philadelphia could be seen here.



An abandoned two‑story wooden building with peeling paint and vines growing up the walls stands in a grassy clearing beside a dirt path, its windows broken or missing and the front door open, surrounded by tall green trees in bright daylight.

At one time this was the Masonic Lodge in Rodney, Mississippi. Dating to 1890, the rural vernacular structure is now severely deteriorated, with most windows missing or boarded and the front door standing wide open. Like the other buildings in this ghost town, it is in danger of collapsing.


Ill-fated Rodney sustained a series of disasters. A yellow fever epidemic in 1843 and a fire in 1852, hit the town hard. By the beginning of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, Rodney was already declining. A sandbar had formed in the Mississippi River causing the river to alter its course two miles to the west putting an end to the riverboat economy here. A second fire in 1869, destroyed the northern section of town, but it was in such a decline by then no attempt was ever made to rebuild. By 1870, Rodney was relatively abandoned. The final bell tolled in 1880 when the railroad decided to build East thought Fayette causing all of the cotton shipments to bypass the town. Another yellow fever epidemic swept through in 1898; this time it didn’t last long since almost everyone was already gone. In 1930, by executive proclamation, the 102-year-old town of Rodney was abolished.


Today, even though a small number of inhabitants remain, Rodney is considered a ghost town.

* All of Rodney is privately owned, please be respectful if you decide to visit. *


An old rusted train car sits in tall grass at the edge of a wooded area, with a railroad crossing sign and mounted signal light standing in front of it, surrounded by dense green foliage in bright daylight.

A passenger train car converted into a home was one of the more unexpected discoveries in Rodney, Mississippi. Tucked into the trees and softened by time, this weathered railcar hints at the handful of people who still remain in the ghost town. Of all the structures scattered through Rodney’s quiet backroads, this was one of the few that felt like it might still hold a trace of everyday life.

An abandoned wooden house with broken boards, missing siding, and a sagging roof stands behind a wire fence in a grassy field, surrounded by overgrown vegetation and dense spring trees.

This abandoned house sits just beyond a wire fence, slowly giving way to time as the woods close in around it. With broken boards, missing siding, and a roof beginning to sag, it’s one of the many structures in Rodney, Mississippi, that speak to the town’s long decline. Spring foliage softens the scene, but the building’s collapse feels inevitable, a reminder of how quickly nature reclaims what’s left behind.

Famous People Around Rodney


Dr. Rush Nutt, one of the three founders of Oakland College, was also a prominent plantation owner and physician in the region. In the 1830s, he developed the Petit Gulf variety of Mexican cotton, a strain prized for its superior fiber quality, resistance to rot, and ease of picking. Nutt also improved the Whitney Cotton Gin by adding flumes that separated dirt from the staples, and he was the first to use a steam engine to power cotton gins. Ahead of his time in agricultural practices, he encouraged farmers to plant peas as a natural fertilizer and to plow cotton and corn stalks back into the soil rather than burning the fields. He also promoted contour (horizontal) plowing to protect the loess hillsides from erosion.


In the late 1830s, General Zachary Taylor, the nation’s future twelfth President, was so taken with Rodney that he decided to purchase land nearby. I speculate that the decision may have been tied to the memory of his daughter Sarah Taylor, who eloped with Jefferson Davis in 1835 and died of malaria only three months later. Taylor’s new plantation was located a few miles south of Rodney and just upriver from Davis Bend, the plantation owned by Davis. After selling his other properties in Louisiana and Mississippi, he purchased Cypress Grove Plantation in 1842 and renamed it Buena Vista Plantation. Taylor and his wife visited often before his election, but once he entered the White House he never returned to the Rodney area, dying in office just a year later.


The Presbyterian Church's Civil War History

A historic brick building with a curved gable, two arched doorways, and three arched windows with green shutters stands behind a wrought‑iron fence, surrounded by lush green trees and grass in bright daylight.

The Rodney Presbyterian Church rises quietly from the trees, its brick façade and curved gable recalling the town’s early prosperity. Built in 1830–31, it remains one of Rodney’s most enduring landmarks.


The Rodney Presbyterian Church was built in 1830–31 in the Federal architectural style, constructed of red brick with rounded arches, a stepped gable roof, and an octagonal bell tower. It was dedicated on January 1, 1832, with Reverend Doctor Jeremiah Chamberlain, one of the founders and president of Oakland College, preaching the service.


On Sunday morning, September 13, 1863, a skirmish took place at the church. The Union gunboat USS Rattler was docked in Rodney, and Reverend Baker, a northern sympathizer, invited the crew to attend services. Violating the Sunday truce, a small party of Confederate soldiers arrested them. When word reached the Rattler, the gunboat bombarded the town and church. The Confederates warned that if the shelling did not stop, they would hang all the prisoners. Four houses and the church were hit, but overall the damage was limited.


The story of Rodney and the Rattler spread quickly, and the Rattler’s crew soon became the laughingstock of the nation. Reverend Baker left town shortly afterward, and within a few months the Union prisoners were exchanged for captured Confederate soldiers. Almost exactly a year later, Union troops returned to Rodney to destroy what they believed was a concentration of Confederates. Nearly every house was plundered, and the land was stripped of food, livestock, and enslaved people by Union forces. Rodney may have been spared a formal battle, but the Civil War still left a lasting mark.


The interior of a historic brick church with tall arched windows, rows of white wooden pews, and a raised central pulpit framed by three large arched windows, all lit by natural light and showing signs of age in the exposed brick walls.

Sunlight pours through the tall arched windows of the Rodney Presbyterian Church, illuminating rows of white pews and the central pulpit. Even in its worn state, the sanctuary holds the quiet dignity of a community long gone.


The church still bears scars from the shelling; notice the cannonball above the second‑floor center window. The cannonball seen today is a replica added during the Presbyterian Church’s first renovation. The church has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.


In 2018, Rodney History & Preservation Society purchased the Rodney Presbyterian Church from the United Daughters of the Confederacy. They are in desperate need of donations to save the church from structural collapse. If you would like to donate, more information can be found on their website.

Rodney Baptist Church

Rodney Baptist Church, also known as Mt. Zion Baptist Church No. 1, dates to circa 1850 and is part of the Rodney Center Historic District.


Its architecture is transitional, containing elements of both Greek Revival and Gothic Revival, with a dramatically pointed arched entrance door and a domed cap. The church was restored sometime prior to 2011.


While not flooded when I visited, the ground was very marshy, and the church looked as if it were drying out from another recent flooding. There is a visible waterline on the exterior of the building, but I did not get close enough to look inside. I am afraid this historic church will not be with us much longer if something is not done to save her.


A small white wooden church with a pointed arched doorway, tall arched windows with green shutters, and a domed cupola stands surrounded by dense green trees. Ivy climbs the front façade, and a narrow dirt path with puddles leads to the entrance, giving the scene an aged, overgrown appearance.

Vines climb the façade of the circa‑1850 Rodney Baptist Church, its pointed arch doorway and domed cap emerging from the trees like a memory of the town that once thrived here.


One Church Saved

A small white Carpenter Gothic church with pointed arched windows, decorative trim, and a red front door stands surrounded by lush green trees and grass. A short staircase leads to the entrance, and the building appears well maintained in a peaceful, wooded setting.

Built in 1868 and saved from collapse by relocation in 1983, the former Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church now lives on as the beautifully restored Confederate Memorial Chapel at Grand Gulf Military Park.


Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, built in 1868, once served the small Catholic community in the town of Rodney. Mass was held at Sacred Heart until 1957, when only seven parishioners remained and the Diocese of Jackson made the decision to close the church. In 1969, the Diocese deeded the property to the Rodney Foundation.



The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is widely considered the finest surviving example of Carpenter Gothic church architecture.



In 1983, in an effort to save this architecturally significant church, the Rodney Foundation donated it to the State of Mississippi. It was moved to Grand Gulf Military Park near Port Gibson, Mississippi that same year. The church has since been beautifully restored and is now used as a non‑denominational chapel. It has been renamed the Confederate Memorial Chapel.


The interior of a small white chapel with wooden pews facing a simple altar set within a blue arched recess. A white cross and pulpit stand at the center, with a pipe organ to the left and tall arched windows bringing in natural light.

Inside the Confederate Memorial Chapel, the restored pews, arched windows, and serene blue altar reflect the careful preservation of this former 1868 Carpenter Gothic church.


If you plan to visit the Confederate Memorial Chapel, formerly Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, at Grand Gulf Military Park, be sure to check the park’s Facebook page before you go. The church and grounds sit high on a hill, but the road into the park floods frequently, and closures are posted there promptly. Maps, directions, and current hours can be found on the Grand Gulf Military Park website.


Finding Rodney Ghost Town


Do not trust your GPS when navigating to Rodney. Most systems will route you straight through the grounds of Alcorn University and out a little‑used back gate onto a narrow dirt road that looks like it was last graded in the 1820s. While this might be entertaining if you’re in a high‑clearance 4WD—and I’ll admit, I was tempted because of the history—my husband and I turned around less than a third of a mile in. There is a much easier and far more reliable way to reach the ghost town.


Use these directions instead:



  • Take US Highway 61 near Lorman, Mississippi, or exit the Natchez Trace Parkway at milepost 37.
  • Head west on MS‑552 toward Alcorn University (if you reach the campus, you’ve gone too far).
  • Turn left onto Fellowship Road.
  • Turn left onto Firetower Road.
  • Turn right onto Rodney Road.
  • Stay on Rodney Road. Shortly after passing Alcorn Road, the pavement will turn to dirt—a good sign you’re getting close.



Not every image makes it into my blog. If you enjoyed the photos in this article, please check out my Mississippi Collection for more pictures from this amazing state, or visit my Image Gallery with over 4000 images of locations around the United States.



A framed photograph of an old white wooden church with a domed cupola hangs on a wall above a beige sofa in a cozy living room. The artwork is double‑matted with a light top mat and a darker bottom mat inside a wood frame. The room includes neutral‑toned furniture, throw pillows, wooden side tables with lamps, a coffee table with books and décor, and soft natural lighting.

This framed print of Rodney Baptist Church captures the quiet dignity of a town lost to time. A beautiful reminder of Mississippi’s architectural past, ready to bring depth and story to your space.



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