Mid-state Mississippi Road Trip Part 2: Pinola, New Hebron, Silver Creek, Georgetown, and More

Dear Readers, we continue our meandering mid-Mississippi road trip (done over two years, 2018 and 2019).

Pinola

Farm house, 677 Old Westville Road, Pinola (Kodak BW400CN film, Leica M2, 35 mm f/2.0 Summicron lens

This little house was at the corner of Westville Road and Hwy 28. A small town called Westville (one of Mississippi's ghost towns) was once located a few miles south along Westville Road, but only the historic cemetery remains now.

Jail, Johnny Bush Drive, Pinola

Historic school, 104 Johnny Bush Drive, Pinola

Pinola is an unincorporated community in Simpson County. It has some historical buildings including the oldest jail in Mississippi(?). Maybe I misread the sign. Regardless, it is the little wood building in the middle picture.

Closed gasoline station, Hwy 28, Pinola

S&W Grocery & Deli in 2018, 2248 Hwy 28, Pinola (closed permanently?)

It was a Sunday in 2018 when I drove through Pinola and not much was open. Quite by chance, I saw cars at the S&W Grocery & Deli on Hwy 28. The church crowd was there for Sunday luncheon. I joined them and had an excellent lunch. The folks were very friendly and seemed surprised that a tourist was exploring and taking pictures. A little mouse scampered along the baseboard with minimal concern that humans were present. But when I intended to return in 2019, I learned that the S&W was permanently closed.

Georgetown

Historic house, Hwy 28, Georgetown (BW400CN film, Leica M2, 50mm f/2.0 Summicron-DR, yellow filter)

Cottage (occupied?), Hwy 28, Georgetown

Georgetown is a little town (pop. 286) in Copiah County. There was not much to see, but these little cottages caught my eye.

New Hebron

Franklin St., New Hebron (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, green filter, ¼ sec f/11)

South of Pinola is the nice little town of New Hebron. I have been here before many years ago. It was Sunday and the churches were busy in the morning. This old snack shop/stand was on Franklin Street. I need to return and explore again.

Silver Creek

Fortenberry's Service Center, 3240 Southern Ave., Silver Creek (digital file)

Shop, 1245 N A Sandifer Highway, Silver Creek (Panatomic-X film, green filter)

Mechanic shop, 1245 N A Sandifer Hwy, Silver Creek (Panatomic-X film, 1 min f/11)

Silver Creek is a small town just off the main east-west US 84, which passes through south Mississippi. I did not see much of interest in the main part of town other than a classic filling station. But just to the west, I stopped at an old mechanic shop on the oddly-named N A Sandifer Highway. The inside was a wonderful conglomeration of metal parts, cobwebs, bicycles, and soft filtered light. This exposure was 1 minute at f/11. I exposed at 4 times the incident light meter reading to allow for reciprocity failure (film becomes less and less sensitive at longer exposures, so you need to add time to the light meter's reading). (Click the picture to see detail.)

Sontag

Cottage, Sontag-Nola Road (Kodak BW400CN film, Leica IIIC, Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens)

Porch detail, Sontag-Nola Road

Cottage, Sontag-Nola Road

Sontag is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County. I came across a number of abandoned cottages and buildings. I expect that this area, like many other rural areas around the United States, has lost population as people moved to cities for more job opportunities. There is still farming in central Mississippi, but it needs much less labor than decades ago.

This ends the second installment of the mid-state tour. Most of the photographs are from Kodak BW400CN film exposed with Leica M2 and Leica IIIC cameras. The New Hebron and Silver Creek frames are from the fantastic Kodak Panatomic-X film, exposed with the "Texas Leica" (a Fuji GW690II medium format camera).