Faded commercial glory: Washington Avenue, Greenville, Mississippi

Washington Avenue, Greenville, view east from the Lake Ferguson levee.

Background

In the early 20th century, Greenville was the big, boisterous, rich, and booming commercial town of the west central Mississippi Delta.

At that time, Greenville thrived from cotton, timber, river traffic, and light manufacturing. These early-20th century post cards from the Cooper Post Card Collection at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History attest to the elegance and substantial commercial architecture of Washington Avenue. Washington Avenue was the sophisticated shopping street.

Here are two post cards showing flooding during the great 1927 flood, which caused immense damage throughout the Mississippi Delta (Barry 1998).

Washington Avenue, Greenville, mid-1950s (courtesy Preservation in Mississippi blog) 

Major American retail companies operated stores in Greenville. These included Sears Roebuck, Woolworth's, J.C. Penny, Montgomery Ward, and local vendors. The downtown was thriving at least through the 1960s, and many of these stores were located in sturdy early 20th century commercial buildings on Washington Avenue.

The Avenue Today

West end of 300 block of Washington Avenue, Greenville. 

309 Washington Avenue, Greenville.

311 Washington Avenue, Greenville.

325 Washington Avenue, Greenville.

Cast iron pillar, unknown vintage, 325 Washington Avenue, Greenville.

Washington Avenue today is a sad place. From what I could see, the shops along the west are closed. They look reasonably intact from the front, but I have no information on the condition of the roofs or the interiors.

Rear of 325 Washington Avenue.

Rear or 323 or 325 Washington Avenue.

Rear or 155 S. Poplar Avenue, Greenville.

A tunnel through the building at 323 or 325 Washington lets you walk to the parking area behind the buildings. I assume this area was reserved for delivery trucks in the old days, but possibly African American patrons had to enter the buildings this way.

Former J & B shoe store, 343 Washington Avenue, Greenville.

343 Washington Avenue, Greenville.

343 (?) Washington Avenue.

Johl & Bergman Shoes once occupied 343 Washington Avenue. They had a handsome entrance with dual doors and large plate glass windows to display their merchandise. The interior still looks remarkably mid-20th century. Does the plywood mean someone is trying to restore something? A walk up to the second floor is ominous. Daylight streams through holes in the roof. The flooring is wet in places and smells musty. As I have written before, in this wet climate, roof decay invariably means rotting joists and timbers and imminent collapse or condemnation by the city safety inspector.

What a shame. How do we let this happen in America? Our corrupt politicians in Washington (and Jackson!) claim they can spend $ billions on a boondoggle wall along the Mexican border or provide a tax windfall to the billionaire class, but it is perfectly all right to let hometown cities collapse due to poor education, infrastructure decay, insufficient medical facilities, and general neglect, especially when the residents are brown or black. A pox on you slimy politicians.

References

Barry, J.M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America.  Simon & Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (April 2, 1998).

Images

The 2018 frames are from my Fuji X-E1 digital camera, most with the Fujinon 27mm ƒ/2.8 compact lens. This is a handy and compact camera and lens package that you can take with you conveniently. Think of it as the digital equivalent of a Barnack Leica (meaning one of the compact screw-mount rangefinder cameras like my Leica IIIC).

The Day the Water Crested in the 2011 Mississippi River Flood: North Vicksburg

Map of road closures and inundations. From The Mississippi River Flood of 2011, A Publication of The Vicksburg Post (© 211 Vicksburg Post)

The Mississippi river crested on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 57.1 ft. on the Vicksburg gage, 1.1 ft. higher than the crest during the great 1927 flood. If the levees had held, the 1927 crest would have been higher, but as measured, the level was 56.0 ft at Vicksburg. In this year's flood, the Kings neighborhood in north Vicksburg was one of the wettest areas of town. In a few places, the water was right at the base of North Washington Street. In previous floods, like the one in 2008 (crest 50.9 ft.), water remained west of the railroad tracks, which served as a form of levee.

Some good news: The Waltersville Estates, operated by Vicksburg Housing Authority, just missed getting water in the ground floor units. I think no one needed to be evacuated.

Further north, conditions were much messier. This church and house are near the intersection of Hutson and North Washington Streets.

Look west along Hutson Street, and all you see is water.

In all, more than 2000 people were displaced in Vicksburg, according to the Vicksburg Post. I think most were from this low-lying area north of Vicksburg. The water is predicted to remain at this level for at least three days and slowly - very slowly - start to recede. Public Radio has already started warning people to wear protective clothing when they enter flooded homes, and the county is offering free tetanus inoculations. Rangers are on duty to help remove snakes and alligators.

Update June 19, 2011. According to the Vicksburg Post (from county and Federal sources):

• Evacuations from Vicksburg and Warren County: 3,202
• Structures evacuated county-wide: 1,340
• Homes inside Vicksburg flooded: 185-200
• Acres flooded in Warren County: 150,165
• River flow during week leading up to crest: 2.15 million cu ft/sec (highest ever recorded)

(Photographs taken with an Olympus E-330 digital camera.)

Close to the Crest, the Waterfront at Vicksburg, Mississippi

By Monday, May 16, the water had risen about 1.5 ft above the Friday level. It was 56.66 ft at 15:00, above the 1927 record. At the historic 1907 depot, water reached the ground floor windows. A week ago, someone bolted plywood panels in front of the doors and windows, but they had not been sealed with any caulk or gaskets, so it was an effort too late and too rushed.

Further north, water covered the entire dirt field north of the M/V Mississippi (compare with the photograph in the previous entry). I saw a snowy egret walking around looking for yummy worms and bugs, so at least some wildlife has been able to adapt. Tourists have adapted, too: I have never seen so many visitors downtown.

Here is some information on the Vicksburg Gage from the Corps of Engineers RiverGages.com:

Mississippi River at Vicksburg, MS
Stream Name: Mississippi River
Gage Zero: 46.23 Ft. NGVD29
Flood Elevation: 43.0 Ft.
Record High Elevation: 56.0 Ft.
Longitude: -90.90233200 Latitude: 32.31183200
River Mile: 435.7
Record High Elevation Date: 05/04/1927

Location of Gage: 1.6 miles downstream of the mouth of the Yazoo Diversion canal. Vicksburg Quandrangle.

Note that the level of 56 ft was as measured. If the levees had not failed at various locations along the basin, particularly at Greenville, the 1927 level would have been several feet higher. I believe the Vicksburg concrete floodwall was built to this higher stage. In effect, there is a considerable factor of safety built in to the Vicksburg walls.



This is the view of the waterfront south of the Depot on May 3, 1927, showing the old, lower floodwalls. The photograph is from the collection of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and is labeled:

1927 Flood Photograph Collection
"Vicksburg, Miss. 5-3-27." Flooded street and railroad tracks. Pedestrians and steamship in background.

Mississippi River Floods - Background, 1927 and 1997

With the approach of record-breaking floods on the Mississippi in May of 2011, this blog is a reprint an issue of the Vicksburg Photopage newsletter from 1998, which gave some background to floods along the great waterway.

Introduction. “That Ol’ Man River, he just keeps rolling along...” (From Jerome Kern’s and Oscar Hammerstein’s 1927 Show Boat. The great American bass, Paul Robeson, recorded “Ol’ Man River” in 1928 and many times thereafter.) Ol’ Man River, is, of course, the mighty Mississippi, the father of waters. This grand waterway has always inspired awe and respect, and never more so than when it is in flood. When snow melt or unusual rainfall causes greater than normal inflow in a short time span, the waters rise, overtop the natural levees or banks, and spread out across the river valley. The greatest flood of record was in 1927, when 500 people were killed and half a million driven from their homes in the lower Mississippi Valley. The Mississippi Delta was particularly hard hit. In response to the tremendous economic damage and loss of life, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1928, directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to embark on the ambitious project of taming the great river by building levees that would maintain it in its banks, even during floods. For the most part, the Corps has been remarkably successful. However, part of the project remains incomplete, and occasionally, the rivers rise so high that the existing levees are unable to contain the immense flow of water.

Geologic note. “The Delta” refers to the flat, fertile river plain north of Vicksburg and south of Memphis, a fertile agricultural area. Historically, the Mississippi periodically flooded the flat river plain and deposited rich soil. The geologic delta of the Mississippi River is an immense accumulation of un-consolidated sediment that protrudes south into the Gulf of Mexico. Normally, when folks say “the Delta,” they are referring to the farming area in northern Mississippi.

Definitions. Originally, the term flood meant an overflowing of water over land that was usually dry. Now that the river is channelized, flood is defined as a water level above a set elevation. Because a river flows downhill, the flood elevation varies at different points along its course. For example, flood elevation at Memphis is different than flood in Vicksburg, and gage zero (the elevation where the measuring staff is defined as zero) is different as well. The US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Geological Survey record water levels at hundreds of stations throughout the nation.

Vicksburg gage 15145. This gage is located about 0.3 miles south of the I-20 bridge. Zero on the gage is 46.23 feet above the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (which is approximately sea level). Bank full, or flood stage, is 43.0 feet above gage zero. During some droughts, the water elevation drops below gage zero, but this does not mean that there is no water flow.

The graph above shows river elevations for 1973 (major flood), 1988 (drought) and 1997 (flood). During the 1988 drought, the water level was so low, long-lost sunken barges and steamboats emerged.

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Table 1. Mississippi River Elevations at Vicksburg
Event	Date	Elev.
Bank full		43.0
Record flood crest (estimated because levees failed)	1927	56.0
Record measured crest	Feb 21, 1937	53.24
Record low stage	Feb 3, 1940	-7.0
1973 flood crest	May 13, 1973	53.1
1993 high	May 18, 1993	43.6
1994 high	May 3, 1994	46.0
1995 high	June 12-13, 1995	47.0
1996 high	June 1-3, 1996	43.6
1997 flood crest	Mar 22-26, 1997	49.1
1998 high	May 14, 1998	43.5
Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District. Elevations in feet above gage zero.

In Table 1, you can see that the record low water was 7 feet below zero, while the crest of the 1927 flood was estimated to be 56.0 feet. This means the water level can vary as much as 63 feet, making it difficult to design wharfs and landings. In Vicksburg, the spring crest is typically at or above flood stage, but only when it is predicted to rise above 45 feet do the city workers prepare to close the flood gates.

The Flood of 1927. This was greatest natural disaster of the 20th century in this part of the world, destroying homes, inundating hundreds of square miles, displacing thousands, killing cattle and livestock, and bringing about vast social changes. Disaster relief was slow and haphazard. Blacks and rural poor whites were treated shabbily by the wealthy establishment. Barry (1997) speculates that populists like Huey Long in Louisiana gained political power as a direct result of the discontent that millions felt and their conviction that something in the social order needed to change.

Reference: Barry, John M. 1997. Rising Tide: the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America, Simon & Schuster, New York.

The following 1927 photographs were kindly loaned to me by a former coworker and life-long Vicksburg resident. Her father, Mr. Emil Menger, took these photographs. Mr. Menger and his brothers regularly walked about four miles from Clay Street to Long Lake to fish. 

 

Mr. Emil Menger at Long Lake (northwest of Vicksburg in the flood plain of the Yazoo River).

Mr. Menger’s boat at Long Lake, Mississippi, during the 1927 flood. The gun is still in the family’s collection.

Flooded road in Vicksburg, probably Hwy 61 North (North Washington Street).

From New Orleans District Corps of Engineers: "The Mississippi River has the third largest drainage basin in the world, exceeded in size only by the watersheds of the Amazon and Congo Rivers. It drains 41 percent of the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The basin covers more than 1,245,000 square miles, includes all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces, and roughly resembles a funnel which has its spout at the Gulf of Mexico. Waters from as far east as New York and as far west as Montana contribute to flows in the lower river."

Mississippi River drainage area with Mississippi River & Tributaries Project area (in pink). From New Orleans District

This map shows the areas flooded in 1927. The map was prepared by the Commission headed by Herbert Hoover. Image courtesy NOAA Central Library and Mr. John Cloud.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has a fascinating collection of 1927 photographs on their web page. Highly recommended!

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/1927flood/

For more information on the 2011 flood, please see some of my later blog articles.