The Mississippi Delta 29: Baptist Town, Greenwood (B&W film)

Stevens Avenue, Baptist Town, Greenwood, Mississippi

Shotgun houses, Stevens Avenue, Greenwood, Mississippi

Baptist Town is a historically African-American neighborhood east of downtown Greenwood. According to the Mississippi Blues Trail:

Baptist Town, established in the 1800s in tandem with the growth of the local cotton industry, is one of Greenwood’s oldest African American neighborhoods. Known for its strong sense of community, it is anchored by the McKinney Chapel M.B. Church and a former cotton compress. In blues lore Baptist Town is best known through the reminiscences of David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who identified it as the final residence of Robert Johnson, who died just outside Greenwood in 1938.

I was unaware of this historic neighborhood until a faculty friend at Mississippi Valley State University showed me around.

Baptist Town, from MSBluestrail.org

West Pelican Street, Baptist Town (click any photograph to enlarge)

While my friend chatted with some shopkeeper friends, I wandered around with my Hasselblad and tripod. The residents seem comfortable with tourists, and most waved and said hi. Signs related to the Blues traditions have been erected, like this one about the great artist Robert Johnson, who died in 1938.

214 Young Street, Baptist Town

214 Young Street, Baptist Town, 80mm Planar lens

204 Young Street Baptist Town, 80mm Planar lens

The reception center on Young Street was closed, so I could not check inside.

Shotgun house, Stevens Avenue

Stevens Avenue is a major street through the neighborhood, lined with these little traditional shotgun houses. I have tried to document remaining ones in other towns in Mississippi. Many have disappeared in the last few decades from all around the United States.

301 McCain Street, Baptist Town

Mr. Chow's grocery store is just east of Baptist Town. It is no longer open.

Ditch off Pelican Street, Baptist Town

View west to downtown Greenwood, W. Pelican Street

Baptist Town is an interesting place and an architectural example of early 20th century housing in reasonably authentic condition. I will return some day when the light is softer, maybe with color film.

These photographs were taken on Kodak Panatomic-X film (expired in 1988), exposed at EI=20. I used a Hasselblad 501CM camera with 80mm and 50mm lenses, all tripod-mounted. I scanned the film with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner controlled by SilverFast Ai software.

The Mississippi Delta 12b: Return to Clarksdale (with Ektar 25 film)

Shack Up Inn, Clarksdale, Mississippi, Kodak Ektar 25 film, Rolleiflex 3.5E camera, 75mm Xenotar lens

During an Easter weekend road trip through north Mississippi, my wife and I stopped in Clarksdale.

We stayed at the Shack Up Inn, a blues-oriented inn/motel that houses its guests in cabins, silos, and shotgun shacks. It is quite comfortable, and the shacks have been rebuilt and are well-insulated (which was welcome during the night as a cold front passed).

Shack Up has accumulated a large collection of vintage memorabilia - perfect for the photographer with a Rolleiflex.

An unused warehouse was just north of the property. I looked for barn owls but did not find any.

Jade building on Delta Ave., Clarksdale

Deak's Mississippi Saxophones & Blues Emporium, 3rd St., Clarksdale

Art Deco Greyhound Bus terminal, now visitor's center.

I need to return to Clarksdale again and spend more time looking around. There is a wealth of cultural material to record. On my previous visit, wisps of snow and bits of sleet were falling through the gloomy winter sky. Maybe next winter....

The square photographs with brilliant color are from Kodak Ektar 25 film, exposed in my 1959 Rolleiflex 3.5E twin lens camera with a Schneider 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. Click any one of those frames to see the amazing detail. All of the Rolleiflex exposures were tripod-mounted. The duller and more "accurate" photos are from a Moto G5 phone. 

This is no. 02c of my irregular series on Abandoned Films.