Fortification Street Oil Mill, Jackson, Mississippi

Fortification street in Jackson runs east-west and crosses over the railroad yards on a long bridge in West Jackson. Just south of the bridge is a hulking complex of steel buildings and pipes, remains of the oil mill.  I think it has been out of operation for at least a decade, but I could not find much information on the complex.

Farish Street, view north

The mill is just north of Farish Street, once a vibrant African-American community.  I assume many of the inhabitants may have worked at the mill.  The view above is from Farish Street looking north.

The Fortification Street bridge usually has pretty dense traffic, but last week, one lane was blocked off with traffic cones.  I pulled in and took some elevated views of the mill.  I saw a guard and some trucks entering, but it was unclear what activity was happening.

Regular readers of this blog know I like the stark geometric shapes in industrial sites.

This is the view north along the railroad tracks.  These are active.  Years ago, I took the train from Chicago to Jackson, and the Amtrak came into town by this route.

This is the view south along Mill Street.  It was quiet on a work day, but there was much more activity decades ago.  We will explore this neighborhood more in future articles.

All 2013 photographs taken with a Panasonic G3 digital camera, files processed in Photo Ninja.