Morning Star Country Store, Old Port Gibson Road, Utica, Mississippi

Another former country store sits at the corner of Old Port Gibson and Adams Station Roads near Utica. It is across the street from the Morning Star Baptist Church, whose address is 11449 Old Port Gibson Rd, Utica, Mississippi.

Morning Star store, Old Port Gibson Road, Utica

I am not sure if the store shared the Morning Star name, but that works well and locals will know what you mean.

The inside has a lot of old stuff on the shelves, and the roof is beginning to fail.  I am often surprised how these old stores look as if the proprietors one day decided not to open, abandoning papers, furniture, and materials in place.

My Utica friend told me that the owners once lived in this little cabin just off to the side of the store.  I thought it looked like a tiny motel unit with two rooms.

These are digital images from a Panasonic G3 digital camera with a 20 mm ƒ/1.7 Lumix lens.

UPDATE DEC. 2019: The store is still standing, but is in poor condition. Here are two views from a sunny day, taken on black and white film.

Morning Star store (Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, yellow filter