From the late 1800s to mid-20th century, Levee Street, running parallel to the floodwall and the Yazoo Canal, was lined with warehouses, cotton compresses, railroad shops, grain elevators, and oil storage farms. Most are now gone, and Vicksburg is no longer an industrial city. The postcard above, from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, shows the waterfront view from the roof of the First National Bank Building. Levee street is in the distance.
In the 1980s and 1990s, this steel building (across the street from the Kansas City Southern railroad yard) contained a machine shop. I am not sure who it served, but it was a going concern, and I recall hearing metal noises and seeing pickup trucks coming and going.
Now it is closed and used for junk storage. I wish I had kept a 1980s telephone book to use as a data source to identify old companies like this.
The south side of the property is a dumping ground for all sorts of metal debris and parts from the railroad.
This is a housing for a track-switch lever and mechanism. I like railroad equipment - heavy duty, built to last.(Photographs taken with a Fuji F31fd digital camera at ISO100, 24 Nov. 2011)
Update: Here are some black and white film views of the workshop from December, 2020.
1 comment:
Hello there
I found your blog by luck and these are some great photos. I 'm building civilian dioramas and would like to use these for my building. I found that place at Bing Maps , but I cannot recognise the stuff the roof is made of ( of the rusty building at the left ). Looks like a painted white metal but I haven't see that practice before. If you know anything let me know. Thanks for your time and keep up your inspirational work.
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