Windsor Ruins 

Windsor Ruins is Mississippi’s most iconic site and has captured the imagination for generations. It is the historic site of the Windsor plantation, destroyed by fire in 1890. Only its twenty-nine enormous columns were left standing. Windsor Ruins is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has Mississippi Landmark status. Currently, a stabilization project is underway to preserve the remaining columns.  

Visit

Plan ahead. There are no visitor amenities at the site, and during certain times of the year roads may be impassable due to flooding.  

Take photos. Photography is welcome—and we invite you to share your photos on our Facebook page.  

Stay safe. Please do not attempt to scale the temporary fence, which has been erected to protect visitors from falling debris. 

Groups 

Contact Barry White, MDAH Technical Preservation Services, at 601-576-6953 or email info@mdah.ms.gov for more information.  

About

Windsor Plantation was built for Smith Coffee Daniell II in 1861. The house, one of the largest private residences in the state before the Civil War, was constructed near the town of Bruinsburg, where Union soldiers crossed the Mississippi River to begin their quest to capture Vicksburg.  

Windsor Ruins Today
More than a century of exposure to the elements has caused erosion to the 45-foot-tall masonry columns and fracturing of the cast iron capitals. In 2016, MDAH commissioned an architectural conservator to study the site. The report included recommendations to repair and conserve the twenty-three columns and five partial columns.

Temporary fencing has been erected to protect visitors at the site from falling debris.