Union Church played a role in the daring raid by Col. Benjamin Grierson and 1,700 horse troopers, who rode over 600 miles through hostile territory from southern Tennessee, through Mississippi, and finally to Union-held Baton Rouge, Louisiana during April-May of 1863. The troopers briefly stopped in Union Church during the night of April 28-29, after which they continued east and then south.
I drove into Union Church on a blazing hot and muggy day in early August (2020) while I was on one of my photographic tours. Some handsome old churches, farm houses, and stores caught my eye.
I drove into Union Church on a blazing hot and muggy day in early August (2020) while I was on one of my photographic tours. Some handsome old churches, farm houses, and stores caught my eye.
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| Former church? (Fuji Acros film, Leica IIIC, 50mm ƒ/1.4 Canon lens, green filter, 1/200 ƒ/4.0) |
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| Old shop (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, minor fill flash) |
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| Union Church Presbyterian Church (Moto G5 digital file) |
Most of these photographs are from medium format Kodak Panatomic-X film from my Fuji GW690II camera or 35mm Fuji Acros film from my Leica IIIC camera and a Canon 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens.
5 comments:
Love this series!
I love that your still using black and white photography.
Thank you for your support. For my Mississippi and Louisiana photographs, I have reverted almost completely to black and white film. But in the next few months, you will see some digital work from Nepal and Austria. I also have a group of black and white negatives from Romania that I need to post.
Thanks again.
My parents have close ties to Union Church and are buried in the cemetery across from the Presbyterian Church, which is still in use. My parents, Joy and Henry Craddock, are buried next to her sister and brother in law, Carl and Idell Chapman, who lived right in Union Church. To this day, my Aunts house belongs to my Aunt Idells granddaughter and her husband. I remember growing up in the 50’s and 60’s and going to the old store in your picture with the window. They sold dry goods as well as food. There was also a store across the road which served food and animal feed. This store burned down in the late 80’s and was called Varnados. The cafe is gone too, owned by Mrs. Stroud, a prominent member of union Church Baptist Church. She made jelly out of everything that grew and my Grandmother often said, “she’d make jelly out of a fence post”! It was a popular truck stop between Hazlehurst and Fayette, serving the best plate lunches imaginable! I remember an old boarding school across from my Aunts house. My cousins and I would play in the building in the 60’s. It was memorable as I looked through your photos and think of the fun times we had in Union Church!
Thank you for the memories, Cherry. I am glad these photographs brought back memories of another era for you.
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