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| Washington Street view north. Undated, from Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History |
Washington Street: a distinguished name that honors our first president. Almost every city or town in the USA has a Washington Street, and Vicksburg is no exception. North Washington Street extends from approximately Grove Street to the junction with US 61 Bypass, a few miles south of the community of Redwood. At one time, US 61 ran through downtown Vicksburg along Washington Street, but the bypass was built in the 1970s to let heavy truck traffic avoid driving through downtown. We will take a quick look at N. Washington Street starting at Grove Street and move north.
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| North Washington Street from 61 Coffeehouse, Fuji Acros 100 film, Vito BL camera |
Before our short exploration, a stop at the 61 Coffeehouse at 1101 Washington Street yields an excellent espresso and conversation with the barista ladies. The block just north of Grove Street (see the field in the photograph above) has been bare since before 1985. It probably fell prey to the "urban renewal" plague that hit Vicksburg in the 1970s.
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| Warehouse, corner of 1st East and N. Washington Street, Tri-X film |
Some nondescript warehouses are at the corner of N. Washington Street and 1st East. From here north, Washington Street is reasonably flat and easy for bike riding.
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| Jo-Anna Motel, from the Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History |
The
Jo-Anna Motel (click the link to my 2011 article) was near the intersection where Haining Road turns off to the Port of Vicksburg. The Jo-Anna was torn down in the 2000s when the National Park Service bought the land. The land today is untended and a mess of weeds, mud, and scrubby trees.
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| Vicksburg Forest Products from Haining Road bridge over railroad, Vito BL camera, Acros 100 film, polarizing filter |
The first big business that is visible from Washington Street is Vicksburg Forest Products (formerly Anderson-Tully Company). The tracks in the foreground continue as far north as the International Paper mill north of Redwood.
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| Corner of Hutson and N. Washington Streets, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter |
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| 3112 N. Washington Street, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter |
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| 3950 N. Washington Street, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter |
Heading north from Haining Road (Port of Vicksburg), you pass small cottages, mobile homes, and churches.
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| Former detail shop at corner of Chicasaw Road (digital file) |
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| Exact location unknown, N. Washington Street, Kodachrome film |
This sign describing the Chicasaw Bayou battle has been moved, so I am not sure where I took this photograph. I have looked for the Corvair junk yard, but never found any remnants. The houses near the present sign are different.
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| Spouts Spring Road, Vicksburg, Hasselblad, 80mm Planar lens, expired Kodak Ektar 25 film |
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| Cottages on Spouts Spring Road, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter |
Spouts Spring Road is a U-shaped road that runs east of N. Washington Street. There is a spring that has been channeled into a creek. I wonder if the water is drinkable and could be used rather than wasted? I sometimes ride here to avoid some of the truck traffic on the main road.
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| Margaret's Gro in 1985, 4535 N. Washington Street, Kodachrome 25 slide, Pentax Spotmatic, 28mm lens |
Margaret's Gro & Market was a small market in the early 1980s. Then Reverend Dennis married Margaret and started to convert the grocery into his Temple to the Lord. Through the early 2000s, it was an amazing and unique example of folk art with vibrant paint and hand-made sculpture.
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| Margaret's Gro, Fuji Reala film, converted to black and white. |
Reverend Dennis learned about brick work from German prisoners of war in World War II. His visitor book had signatures from hundreds of German tourists. The photographer, Suzi Altman, has many pictures of Margaret's Gro on
her site. I have also written about it before (type Margaret's Gro in the search box).
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| Road from sand quarry, Rolleiflex 3.5E camera, Kodak Panatomic-X film |
A sand or gravel quarry is east of N. Washington street, just a short distance south of the intersection with the 4-lane 61 Bypass. I recently noticed that a couple of old farm houses had been demolished (visible to the left in the picture above).
This ends out short ride down North Washington Street. Thank you for reading.
2 comments:
I read some of your posts about Margaret's Grocery, and now, I'm sad. That said, I could read your writing for a long while.
Thank you for the comment. I am sad to say, the remains of Margaret's Gro are in poor condition. I hope some of them can be preserved and made accessible to the public as an example of southern folk art.
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