Natchez is already starting to plan events for its 300th birthday in 2016.

Jennifer Ogden Combs, executive director of tricentennial activities, tells the Natchez Democrat that she sees “an opportunity for a celebration on an international scale” in the city that sits on the bluffs of the Mississippi River.

Combs says Natchez has been under French, Spanish and English flags, and has retained the influence of Native American, Jewish and African-American culture.

Combs says the Mississippi River has changed course in every part of the state except Natchez.

Historic Natchez Foundation Director Mimi Miller says Fort Rosalie was built in 1716, and that established Natchez.

The state of Mississippi celebrates its bicentennial in 2017. Natchez was among the settlements that existed long before statehood