History of Anchuka (now Grey Oaks)

“Closer to Port Gibson stood Anchuka, home of the Archer family for nearly one hundred years. Anchuka is the Choctaw word for ‘home’…”

– Lost Mansions of Mississippi

Construction began in 1835 on a 1250-acre plantation on the Bayou Pierre river. The original home was Greek Revival in design, and was two stories in height. Anchuka’s 16 rooms included conveniences that were almost modern including an individual “dressing closet” in each room, a manually-operated “shower bath” on the second floor, and two story, novel “gallery style” servant quarters.

Visitors in the early 1900s marveled at the grand home and its spooky state of disrepair. In 1936 the Historic American Buildings Survey documented the home in detail, which you can see here.