french camp Founders Day

For 45 years, French Camp has been celebrating its founding fathers with a festive celebration.

- SANDRA MASSEY BUCKLEY

When Louis LeFleur arrived in 1810 and established a trading post along the new Natchez Trace, the area was still very much a wilderness. Christian missionaries and educators soon arrived, and in a short amount of time, the town of French Camp and the French Camp Academy were born.

In honor of the town’s 210th anniversary, the 45th annual Founders Day event was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 9 but has been postponed until May 8, 2021. “The day will be filled with ceremonies, speeches, celebrations, and general pomp and circumstance,” says Jill Cooksey, event chair and living history event coordinator.

A professional re-enactment produced by Cooksey is on tap when the event does take place, spotlighting a pivotal moment in French Camp’s history. The Gulf Coast Artillery, representing the early 19th-century British Artillery, will “invade” the town, where Andrew Jackson and his American Militia will meet them.