The planter’s cottage proudly sits in the rural Yazoo countryside, protected by the high banks of Bell Road.
Although the architectural lines and structural frames are a story in themselves, it is what happened inside the home that made history as well.
A family grew up the home, made a name for themselves. And lived their lives in the home that came alive itself.
The Mosely-Woods House is one of the earliest African-American-owned residences in the Yazoo City area. And through the years, the historic homeplace has been passed down through the generations, owned by the same family since 1880.
The estate can be found at the end of Bell Road, which snaked its way from Vicksburg to Yazoo City as early as the 1820s.
“Parts of the road and the one old plantation house that remains at the side of the road are still ours to enjoy,” said Joseph Thomas in Afro-American Sons and Daughters. “They can still be seen today, just like they were in perhaps 1830.
Beginning at Ridge Road, the historic Bell Road continues on through the land with its high bank roads and deep curves.
“Back when oxen were used, there was a bell at the bottom of the hill and one over the top of the hill,” Thomas said. “All travelers would ring the bell before entering the road so that if anyone was on the other end, they would know to wait until the ox-wagon passed.”
Almost three miles down the road sits the Mosely-Woods home.
“Shortly before you come to the home site, you will pass through a portion of the road with banks 20 feet high or more with trees more than 40 feet high,” Thomas said. “These two parts of the road have not changed since before 1900.”
It is believed the home was first built in 1860. The original section of the home was two rooms wide, two room deep. A rear addition was constructed in 1880.
According to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the house was purchased in 1880 by William Mosely.
“William Mosely, an early black landowner in the Yazoo City area, purchased the house and three acres from Ann Holt, a large landowner, in October 1880,” state records show. “According to deed records, Mosely inhabited the house at the time of the sale.”
Four years later, Mosely would purchase an additional 9.17 acres from Holt.
After Mosely’s death, his heirs sold the property to one of his grandchildren, Mary Woods, in 1909.
Additional rooms were constructed in the 1960s. But the historic cypress floors, columns and doors are all original. The chimneys and lamps of the home are still usable.
“While there were a number of African-Americans landowners in 1880, tradition holds that this house is the oldest remaining residence continously owned by African-Americans in the Yazoo City area,” state records show. “The house retains a moderately high degree of integrity from the first years of its association with William Mosely.”
