Inside the house there is a majestic spiral stairway rising to the grand high hallway, without support except at its base. This amazing feature intrigues the imagination. In early days Auburn entertained many celebrities, among them Henry Clay, Edward Everett Hale, and John Howard Payne. The same gracious hospitality maintains today. Auburn is the property of the city of Natchez by deed of gift from Stephen Duncan, and is used as the deed stipulates for the “amusement, entertainment, and recreation, without cost or monetary consideration, of Natchez citizens”. It is the handsome headquarters of several distinguished local clubs. The women’s clubs of Natchez have undertaken the task of furnishing the lower floor with valuable antiques of the period of its original furnishings. The acreage surrounding it is known as Duncan Park in compliment to the Duncan family who gave it to the city. It contains huge, aged, moss-draped oaks, alluring sweet olive trees, famous magnolias, shrubbery and vines, old-fashioned gardens, a golf course, and playground with swings and merry-go-rounds used every day in the year for the health and frolic of children. [Illustration: The Unsupported Spiral Stairway Rises to the Grand Hallway.] [Illustration: (unlabelled)] [Illustration: Old Milk House. Slaves pumped cool cistern water into long zinc vats providing Auburn’s cooling system for its crocks of milk.] [Illustration: Food prepared in the kitchen below the servants’ quarters was carried in hot urns to dining rooms by servants stationed along “the ways”.] _Belmont_ [Illustration: Belmont] Sturdy as the Rock of Gibraltar stands this imposing Neo-Greek mansion. It was known originally as “Cleremont”, and was built in the early 40’s by one Loxley Thistle. Storm and strife have beaten against the doors of this stronghold but it was built after a disastrous tornado which put a great fear in the minds of builders of that period, and Belmont (as it was renamed) was constructed to resist fierce storms, although at the same time exquisite lines of beauty were maintained. This place with its thirty acres of land has changed hands oftener than any ante-bellum home in Natchez. Its history is broken and uncertain. It was undoubtedly built by imported craftsmen who had the help of local carpenters and slave labor. Many prominent families of Natchez are identified with Belmont at some period in its history. Within its fort-like walls Natchez elite often sipped rare old wine from its private sub-cellar in frequent celebrations. Belmont has its ghost story of whispering souls wandering through the high-ceilinged halls—ghosts created to scare the slaves, and “whispers” which proved to be the swishing of chimney swallows rushing in and out of their nests. The approach to Belmont is a majestic line of moss-draped cedars and giant oak trees standing sentinel-like over the gardens of days long passed.