Small Towns in South Central Mississippi: D'Lo, Florence, Harrisville, Hopewell, Polkville

 

D'Lo

 

D'Lo is a small town in Central Mississippi a half hour south of Jackson off the Simpson Highway 149. The town is mostly known for the D'Lo Water Park, which is on the Strong River. The family and I tried the water park once, but the river was low and it was not very interesting. The town was prosperous and busy early in the 20th century, when Finkbine Lumber Company operated a large sawmill. Many (most?) of the stores in the former commercial strip date to before the mid-1930s, when the sawmill closed. 

2201 Simpson Hwy (Rte 149), May 5, 2021

(4×5" Tri-X Prof. film, Tachihara camera, 90mm ƒ/6.8 Angulon lens)

2201 Simpson Hwy (Rte 149)

Corner Grocery, E 4th Street

(Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 Fujinon lens) 

Store, corner of S. Poplar and E. 4th Streets

(Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 Fujinon lens)  

Stores, E. 4th Street (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II, 90mm ƒ/3.5 Fujinon lens)

Florence

Most people rush through Florence on US 49 as they travel between Jackson and Hattiesburg. Much of the architecture along the road is modern strip mall or industrial.  I saw one interesting cluster of older stores.

 

3009 Hwy US 49, Florence

3011 Hwy US 49, Florence

Harrisville

 

Harrisville is a small unincorporated community in Simpson County about 25miles south of Jackson. I drove through the community on MS 469 after leaving D'Lo. 

 

Former gas station, Simpson Hwy (Rte 469)

(4×5" Tri-X Prof. film, Tachihara camera, 135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar S-II lens)

Ready to roll, logging truck, Mulligan Road

 

Hopewell

 

Hopewell is another unincorporated community, this time in Covington County.  

 

Ready to roll, Old River Road 

(Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II, 90mm ƒ/3.5 Fujinon lens)

Polkville

 

Polkville is a town in Smith County.  

 

On patrol, MS Hwy 13, June 23, 2021

Townsend Road west of Polkville 

(Kodak Super-XX film, Tachihara camera, 240mm ƒ/9 G-Claron lens, yellow filter)

No shopping here, Polkville

(Kodak Royal Gold 25 film converted to B&W, Leica M2 camera, 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens) 

This ends a very quick run through small rural communities in south central Mississippi south of Jackson. I took these pictures in mid-2021, during the pandemic. Traveling by car solo around rural Mississippi was a nice way to get out and about. Fortunately, we were not confined to our homes.  

I used Kodak Panatomic-X film in my Fuji GW690II camera (the "Texas Leica") and Tri-X Professional in my 4×5" Tachihara wood field camera. I really need to use it more often. 

On the Waterfront at the Wishkah River - Aberdeen, Washington

Grays Harbor, map generated from https://graysharborwa.mapgeo.io/datasets

Geologic Setting

Aberdeen is a seaport at the east end of Grays Harbor, an estuary on the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Grays Harbor is one of three major estuaries on Washington's Pacific coast. Willapa Bay, south of Grays Harbor, is the second, and the lower Columbia River is the third. Grays Harbor (with no apostrophe) was named after Captain Robert Gray, who entered the bay in 1792 during one of his  fur-trading voyages along the north Pacific coast of North America. 

An estuary is an embayment or river mouth that experiences mixing of salt and fresh water. Grays Harbor is an excellent example, because the tide enters the Pacific mouth of the bay and mixes with fresh water from the Chehalis, Wishkah, Hoquiam, and Humptulips Rivers. Sediments and flora reflect this mixing of waters. Marshes often form in brackish water.  

Puget Sound is a much larger geological feature in the Washington coast and is classified as a sound. Some of the river mouths and embayments that enter the sound, like Budd Inlet here in Olympia, can be considered small esturaries, but none of these are as extensive features as Grays Harbor, Willapa, or the Columbia River.   

Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and the Columbia River were dangerous entrances during the sailing era. Hundreds of vessels floundered in the waves and the treacherous sand banks, especially in winter. This is why Puget Sound was such an amazing resource. It provided calm water that did not freeze in winter. Sailing vessels could escape from the rough Pacific Ocean into relatively sheltered water. Seattle is one of the great natural harbors of the world (along with Victoria (Hong Kong), Sydney, New York, Busan, Rio de Janeiro, Halifax, and others).   

Aberdeen 2004 (Hasselblad Xpan Panoramic camera)

Aberdeen

Aberdeen was once one of the largest timber processing and shipping ports on the Pacific coast. Timber companies floated vast amounts of lumber down the Chehalis River to numerous mills along the waterfront.  The city expanded greatly in the 1920's when lumber exports grew in response to factors like the opening of the Panama Canal and the earthquake in Tokyo, which resulted in fires that burned much of the city. 

Aberdeen had a tumultuous history of union organizing, epic labor strife, criminal syndicates, violence, murder, and Communist organizing. This is fascinating stuff, but this history well beyond the scope here.

The photograph above is a 2004 aerial view of South Aberdeen in the foreground and downtown Aberdeen in the distance. The Chehalis River flows from left to right in the foreground and then curves left and flows towards the open water of Grays Harbor. I took this with a Hasselblad XPan panoramic camera from my friend's cloth airplane. 

Wishkah River

The Wishkah River is a tributary of the Chehalis. It drains a wooded and mountainous region of Grays Harbor country north of Aberdeen. It flows south through Aberdeen, with some old bridges and interesting infrastructure. The photos below are of the downtown area along the Wishkah.

East Wishkah Street lift bridge

This is the type of bridge that pivots up. You can see the counterweights hanging from the frame on the opposite side of the river. 

Wishkah River and the old Northern Pacific Railroad swing bridge

Pilings and debris, Wishkah River

South F Street

Northern Pacific swing bridge

I could not find much information about this bridge. It is unusual for swing bridges because the pivot is at the edge of the channel. Only one side projects over the water. The electric light is on, but I do not know if the bridge can swing. Freight trains cross it regularly. A sign said no trespassing, but plenty of homeless people cross. Someone may even live in the turret under the central pivot. 

Junction where swing bridge meets fixed track

I like these complicated pieces of early 20th century industrial infrastructure. This was massive construction, but I am sure it needs a lot of maintenance now.  

A homeless tent community occupies East River Street. While I was taking pictures, a few of them walked by and were very polite. Do they live here in winter? It would be pretty grim with the long wet nights and cold wind blowing in from Grays Harbor. 

I took these photographs on Kodak Tri-X 400 film with my "Texas Leica," the Fuji GW690II camera with a 90mm ƒ/3.5 Fujinon lens. Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, developed the film in Xtol.

Small Towns in Washington: Shelton

Shelton is the westernmost city in Puget Sound. It is northwest of Olympia at the western end of Oakland Bay. Travelers taking US 101 north to Port Townsend or Port Angeles at the north side of the Olympia Peninsula would pass right by Shelton. 

In the early-mid 20th century, Shelton's economy included logging, farming, dairying, ranching, and oyster cultivation. Logging was the heavy industry, and the Simpson Timber Company operated a mill complex at the waterfront of Oakland Bay. Formerly, trains carried logs out onto a man-made peninsula, where they were dumped into the bay. From there, tugboats moved log booms to other processing centers and mills, such as the huge mill in Everett. 

Frontier Antiques, S. First Street, Shelton

Bob's Tavern, S. First Street, Shelton

South First Street carries a lot of traffic, but the stores did not look too prosperous.

Rail yard off S. First Street with mill complex in the distance

Timber rail cars off S. First Street

From Google Maps, I could see the remnant of the lumber dump at the waterfront. But I could not personally get to the waterfront because it was it was part of the Sierra Pacific Industries work yard. Only employees were allowed in past security. 

Boathouse, Oakland Bay Marine

This was a rather frustrating visit because I could not reach the industrial waterfront. And the June sky was brilliantly clear and featureless (boring). But Shelton will be worth further exploring. Not far away, the High Steel Bridge over the south fork of the Skokomish River will be worth a visit. 

Dear Readers, you know where this is going. What do you do after a few hours exploring and photographing? Well, that's obvious, go to the Cabin Tavern to eat Fish 'n Chips and drink cidah (that is New England tawk). 

Post-photography health food at the Cabin Tavern, Shelton

Don't do it in the water

I took the black and white photographs on Kodak Panatomic-X film with my "Texas Leica," the Fuji GW690II camera. It has a superb 5-element Fujinon 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens that equals the lenses on my Rolleiflex and Hasselblad. I used medium yellow, dark yellow, and yellow-green filters to darken the sky. Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, developed the film. 

At the BNSF Rail Yard, Tacoma, Washington (Tac 02)

 Railroad photography is always interesting if you like industrial/infrastructure/machinery topics. There are so many shapes, patterns, and details to record. Your eye can wander around the scene and seldom run out of new details. 

Most rail yards today are off limits to casual visitors. This is true for the large BNSF rail and off Puyallup Avenue in the Port of Tacoma. However, East D Street, just east of the Foss Waterway, has an overpass with a pedestrian sidewalk! That was too good to resist. On a May day with interesting clouds, I parked nearby and walked along the overpass with my camera and a tripod. The roadway vibrated when a truck rumbled by, so I waited for a quiet period. These frames are 2400 pixels wide, so click to see more details.

Turntable, BNSF rail yard, Tacoma

Years ago, there was probably a roundhouse here, where steam locomotives would have been repaired and readied for duty. Turntables were necessary to spin steam locomotives because they did not run in reverse efficiently. Modern diesel locomotives can run in either direction.

Buildings in background are Tacoma Dome parking garages (Panatomic-X film, med. yellow filter)

Signal equipment

South side of rail yard from East E Street (Kodak Tri-X 400 film)

Train moving around south end of Foss Waterway en route somewhere south

Tracks below downtown Tacoma parallel to Dock Street (Kodak T400CN film, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, med yellow filter)

I took most of these pictures on Kodak Panatomic-X or Tri-X 400 film with my Fuji GW690II camera (the "Texas Leica"), with its EBC Fujinon 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens. This 5-element lens has amazing resolution. I bought the camera in 1992 and have used it irregularly over the decades. It is a big package to take on an air trip but is fine for car travel. I expose the Panatomic-X at EI=25, which normally requires a tripod. Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, developed the film.

On the Waterfront - the Thea Foss Waterway, Tacoma, Washington (Tac 01)

Tacoma and the Foss Waterway
(from the United States Environmental Protection Agency)

 Port of Tacoma from Standard and Chevron Roadmap, ca. 1947 (from History Link Essay 5150)

The Thea Foss Waterway, formerly the City Waterway, is an inlet that extends south from Commencement Bay. It separates downtown Tacoma (on the west) from the Port of Tacoma. The waterway is partly man-made.* In 1902, the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged an existing inlet to a width of 500 ft and extended it south, making it suitable for wheat freighters. The waterway is now named after Thea Foss, who founded the Foss Maritime Company on the inlet in 1889.

The Port of Tacoma had a long industrial and shipping history. As summarized by the Environmental Protection Agency:

Site History, Contamination and Remediation

The Thea Foss Waterway is the westernmost of five waterways that make up Commencement Bay’s industrial waterfront, and is located next to downtown Tacoma. Starting in the late 1800s, the area supported shipbuilding, oil refining, chemical manufacturing and other industries, as well as the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Northern Pacific owned much of Commencement Bay’s south shore, and created the Thea Foss Waterway by damming one arm of the Puyallup River.

Over time, industrial activities contributed to the contamination of soil, groundwater and bay sediment with heavy metals, phthalates, petroleum-based products, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pesticides. Stormwater also contributed to sediment contamination; much of Tacoma’s urban drainage pours into the Thea Foss Waterway.

In the early 1980s, Ecology identified sediment contamination in Commencement Bay and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studied the area. In 1983, EPA added the Commencement Bay Near Shore/Tide Flats site to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL); it was one of the program’s first sites. Encompassing 10 to 12 square miles of shallow water and land, and involving over a million cubic yards of contaminated sediments, it was also one of the program’s first mega-sites. The Thea Foss Waterway contains three of the enormous site’s eight contaminated sediment problem areas, which make up one of its four project areas.

During my previous life at the University of Washington, Tacoma was still a heavy industry city. When the wind blew from the south, "Aroma of Tacoma" reached all the way to the U District in Seattle. Yum.

The City of Tacoma coordinated with Tribes and bought abandoned properties along the shore, partly funded clean-up, and rebuilt shore protection. I never worked professionally on any marine sediments in Tacoma and know very little about this monumental clean-up effort. To a casual visitor today, the waterfront is quite inviting. But there is still industry and railroad infrastructure, so just my type of photographic subject matter. This time, we will look at the waterway and some of the adjacent area. (Click any picture to expand it and see details.)

Foss Waterway looking south towards the 11th Street bridge from the Foss Waterway Seaport (Tri-X film, Fuji GW690II camera with 90mm lens)

11th Street bridge view north from the Public Esplanade (T400CN film, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, yellow filter)

The 11th Street bridge, also known as the Murray Morgan Bridge, opened in 1913. In 2013, the City of Tacoma revitalized and restored this historic crossing of the Foss Waterway. 

Repair sheds, photograph looking east from 1199 Dock Street (T400CN film, Leica IIIC)

East 21st Street Bridge from Dock Street Extension (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera)

The handsome cable-stayed bridge opened in January of 1997. It dominates the skyline over the Foss Waterway. 

Downtown Tacoma and the south end of the Foss Waterway

East D Street, view north from East 11th Street overpass (Tri-X 400 film)

East 11 Street overpass

Holding on for the ride, East D Street

I set up my tripod and a locomotive trundled along down the middle of the street. I like interesting  places like this. 

Steel warehouses, East F Street (Tri-X film Fuji GW690II camera)

Dear Readers, you know where this is going. I often ask this question. What to do after a day of wandering around the harbor and taking photographs?

Salmon BLT sandwich at Fish Peddler

Why, it is obvious. Drop in at Fish Peddler right on the Foss Waterway for a salmon bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Wash it down with a local IPA. I really like Tacoma...... 

The black and white photographs are from Kodak Panatomic-X or Tri-X film. I used my Texas Leica, the Fuji GW690II rangefinder camera. Its 90mm ƒ/3.5 5-element lens is superb, easily the equal of the Zeiss lenses for the Hasselblad camera. And this Fuji has a larger negative, resulting in an amazing amount of image data on each frame.  

Footnote

* This is another example of how many coastal features that we now see in the USA are partly man-made or were greatly modified by construction or alteration of the local and upland environment (such as dams on rivers). Many parts of our coasts are not "natural," especially near coastal inlets and urban areas. Even remote shores have changed because of dams on rivers trapping sediment.