From the Archives: the Lorman Country Store, Lorman, Mississippi

Lorman Country Store, Leica M3, 50mm ƒ/2.8 Elmar lens, Kodachrome film

Lorman is a small town - really just a hamlet - south of Port Gibson on US 61. Lorman was known for its old-fashioned country store, which had been in continuous operation from 1875 until 1996. In the past, US 61 passed directly in front of the store. Today, the new 4-lane road is a short distance to the east, and the old store is not subjected to heavy traffic right in front.

Waiting for a ride, 1990 (Olympus Zuiko 35mm shift lens)

In the past, the store housed a post office and sold all the necessities needed by a small farming community. By the mid-1980s, the store was still open, but most visitors may have come to see the museum of antiques, old adding machines, books, and stuff. It was pretty interesting. But finally it happened, bad news: in March of 1996, the Vicksburg Post announced that the store had been sold and that all the contents would be disposed at auction. My photographer friend and I drove to Lorman a day or two before the auction. The proprietor generously let us take pictures inside during its last day of operation.

The photographs are all from Kodachrome film exposed with a Nikon F3 camera with 50mm ƒ/1.8 Nikkor AiS lens. In the interior, I used a Vivitar flash with a cardboard diffuser.

The frames above are from Kodak Tri-X Professional film (the ISO 320 emulsion) taken with my Fuji GW690II camera with 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens (the "Texas Leica"). I used a tripod. A wider-angle lens would have been useful, but I did not have one at the time for 120-size film.

This has been a quick look at the Old Country Store. As of 2019, it houses a restaurant - photographs to follow.

Mid-state Mississippi Road Trip Part 3: Hazelhurst, Crystal Springs, Pattison

Dear Readers, this is the third installment of our mid-state Mississippi road trip. This time, we are approaching Interstate 55 from the east. I-55 approximately follows the much older US 51.

Beauregard

Shack or former store, Beauregard Rd., Beauregard (Kodak BW400CN film, Leica IIIC camera, Canon 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens)

Victorian cottage, Elmore Street, Beauregard (note the white circle, a pinhole in the rubberized Leica IIIC shutter curtain)

Beauregard is a small town of only 326 in Copiah County. It is on old US 51, and likely had much more commercial traffic in the era before I-55 was built. I looked around the historic Beauregard Cemetery but did not take any pictures there. This cottage on Elmore Street must have been quite handsome in its day, as were a number of other older homes in the vicinity. 

Hazelhurst

Hwy 51, south end of Hazelhurst (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, yellow filter, ¼ sec ƒ/8.0½)

207 Caldwell Drive, Hazelhurst (digital file)

Hazelhurst is the seat of Copiah Country and was first settled in 1819. The city is just off I-55 about 35 miles south of Jackson. I had never driven through town, just buzzed by on I-55. I assumed that it would be reasonably prosperous because of its proximity to the interstate, but what I saw on old Highway US 51 was pretty rough. The house in the photograph above was empty but clearly had been a nice home in the early-mid-20th century. The car title loan company occupying an old Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company station says a lot about the financial conditions in the town.

Pine Bluff Lodge 428, 11155 Dentville Rd., Hazelhurst (BW400CN film, Leica M2, 50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR lens)

Templeton Grocery, 1011 Jack Rd., Hazelhurst (BW400CN film, Leica M2)

Templeton Grocery, 1010 Jack Rd., Hazelhurst (expired Kodak Ektar 25 film, Rolleiflex 3.5E with 75mm Xenotar lens) 

Some of the side roads in the area are pretty out-of-the-way. Dentville Road runs west-northwest out of Hazelhurst. About 13 miles west of Hazelhurst, an old grocery store occupies the junction with Jack Road. The store was closed but boarded up and not abandoned. I experimented with some expired Kodak Ektar 25 film in my Rolleiflex, but the film was well past its prime.

Crystal Springs

Wilson's Meat House, Crystal Springs (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera)

On my 2019 trip, I was heading home, a bit disappointed with the day's photographic opportunities. But wait, a big cow on Hwy 51 just south of Crystal Springs. Just waiting for a portrait. It was too good to resist. I love scenes like this. I should do a cross-country expedition looking for cows, chickens, catfish, and what-not - folk art at its best.

Pattison

Store, MS 547 near White Hall Rd., Pattison (Kodak TMax 100 film, Olympus Trip 35 camera)

Store, MS 547 near White Hall Rd., Pattison (Kodak TMax 100 film, Olympus Trip 35 camera)

House on Lopiah Rd., Pattison (Kodak TMax 100 film, Olympus Trip 35 camera) 

In 2017, my wife and I drove home through the center of the state via Hwy 547. We passed through Pattison, a quiet and rather sad little town. It was probably more prosperous 50 years ago.

This ends out mid-state road trip. I have written about other small towns further north, such as Utica, Edwards, Learned, and Bolton.

Most of the photographs above are from film cameras. The house in Hazelhurst and the cow portrait are from Kodak's long-discontinued Panatomic-X film taken with my Texas Leica (the Fuji GW690II camera with 90mm Fujinon lens). Many of the others are from BW400CN film taken with Leica M2 and IIIC cameras with various lenses.

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). 

Mid-state Mississippi Road Trip Part 1: Raleigh, Mize, Magee, Mendenhall, and Florence

Introduction

Central Mississippi is out of my usual exploration area. I suppose I do not get out enough. Therefore, in conjunction with driving my wife to the airport, I have made an effort in the last couple of years to explore south of Interstate 20 and south of Jackson. This is an area of gentle rolling hills, farmland, forest, and small towns. We will take a gentle swing heading south from Jackson, then west, and then back to Vicksburg. There is a wealth of photographic subject matter. I will break up this impromptu tour into three blog articles. Also, the tour is a conglomerate of two years exploring, so it is not exactly one big circle route.

Florence

3011 Hwy 49, Florence, (April 14, 2019, Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm lens, ½ sec ƒ/11)

In 2019, I drove south on Hwy 49. Usually, I just rush through Florence in a hurry en route to Hattiesburg or somewhere else. Seen from 49, it consists of fast food shops and gas stations - totally dull and horrifying in an American strip-mall way. Ah ha, an interesting shop. A gent was cleaning and we chatted. He said it was once a mechanic shop, but it now sells antiques. (Click the photograph to see detail at 2400 pixels wide).

Brandon

Unused cottage, Brandon, Mississippi (Leica M2, 50mm Summicron-DR lens, green filter, Kodak BW400CN film)

On my 2018 trip, I drove south on Rte 18 from Brandon, which is now largely a suburb of Jackson. Heading south on Rte 18, I saw an abandoned cottage in the woods. Otherwise, not much caught my eye.

Raleigh

Gasoline pumps, Raleigh Food Center, Hwy 35, Raleigh

Raleigh is at the south end of the Bienville National Forest. I assume the town was once heavily involved with forest products. I did not see much that was photogenic.

Mize

Faithway MB Church, Maple Street, Mize (50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR, green filter)

Mize is a pretty little town with a couple of handsome churches. The railroad went right through town, as it did for almost all small towns in the early 1900s.

Magee

1st Ave. NE, Magee (50mm, polarizer)

Hotel site, Hwy 49 north of Magee (50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR, green filter)

Magee looked reasonably prosperous, and several blocks of turn of the century commercial buildings attest to its being an important commercial center decades (or a century) ago. Somewhere between Magee and D'Lo, I found an old drive-in theater almost engulfed by the woods. Unfortunately, there was no way to photograph the screen, and I think the projection booth hut was gone. A trucking company may have owned the land.

Mendenhall

Big Smitty's, Hwy 149, Mendenhall

Main Street, Mendenhall (Leica M2, 50mm Summicron-DR lens, polarizing filter to emphasize sky) 

Mendenhall tracks, view west from Main Street crossing (50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR, polarizer) 

Mendenhall Grocary & grain, Main Street, Mendenhall

Maain Street, Mendenhall (50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR, polarizer)

Mendenhall, about 25 miles south of Jackson, is the seat of Simpson County. The handsome courthouse dates from 1908 and occupies a prominent spot on a hill at the top of Main Street. It is a nice little town, but the stores on Main Street are now largely empty.

Many years ago, the Mendenhall Hotel was famous for its southern cuisine served via lazy Susan turntables. It was featured in the 1977 edition of Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern. We had the book and meant to try out the Mendenhall Hotel but never passed through the area at the right time of day.

Star Theater, Main Street, Mendenhall in 1990 (no longer extant). (Kodachrome slide, 35mm ƒ/2.8 Olympus Zuiko Shift lens.)

I was lucky to photograph the Star Theater (opened in 1938) on Main Street in 1990. But when I looked for it on my 2019 trip, it was gone. According to Wikipdia:

"During the late 1960s, the Star Theatre had problems with vandalism and growing racial tensions among its young patrons who objected to maintaining segregation. Under Jim Crow customs, black customers were required to sit in the segregated balcony and wanted this changed after national legislation to end such practices.

In October 1979, a newly remodeled and fully integrated Star Theatre reopened under the ownership of Danny Collins, a young local entrepreneur. Its first movie was the Chuck Norris film A Force of One. The theatre enjoyed revived popularity until competition from video arcades and cable TV forced Collins to close some three years later. 

The theatre was repainted when used as a location for the film My Dog Skip. Heavy rains caused the roof to collapse in April 2008. The theatre burned down in 2016."

This ends Part 1 of our informal tour of mid-Mississippi. In the next installment, we will proceed west to Pinola and other small towns.

For the Florence photograph of the old store, I used Panatomic-X film in my Fuji GW690II, the "Texas Leica."  Some good news: I bought 6 more rolls of the 120-size film from the same eBay seller who sold me my present stock in 2003. In effect, I have paid him to store the film in his freezer for a decade and a half. Fortunately, slow speed black and white film, when kept cold, is usable decades after its official expiration date. But color films do not last as well, as my experience with expired Ektar 25 demonstrated.

The other photographs are from Kodak BW400CN film taken with my Leica M2 camera with 50mm and 35mm Summicron lenses.