Small towns in Mississippi: Return to Hermanville

Mississippi 18 No. 4, entering Hermanville

Ten years ago, a friend and I took a drive to Hermanville and explored. The town is on Mississippi highway 18 a few miles east of Port Gibson. Hermanville was pretty rough back then.

Not much has changed. There are a few stores well-patronized by gents hanging around and drinking.

This garage has been torn down. In 2006, it was a mess with a huge straight-8 engine block inside on a stand. The rest of the car was not present.

This little church, up a dirt driveway off 18,  looks like it is no longer used.

This is a traditional house similar to ones you see throughout Mississippi.

This historic store on Railroad Street (or Alley) may be undergoing restoration. However, it looked about the same in 2008.

This yard with old cars and a huge of tree is across the street from the small shops where the gents drink.

Head northeast a few miles to Carlisle Road, and this handsome little church sits in the woods.

An abandoned railroad bridge partly crosses Bayou Pierre. The Bayou winds its way west, goes under Hwy. 61 north of Port Gibson, and eventually empties into the Mississippi River.

The 2017 photographs were taken with a Rolleiflex 3.5E with Schneider Xenotar lens using Kodak Panatomic-X film. I used orange or polarizer filters on some frames.

Small Towns in Mississippi: Hermanville

Hermanville is a small agricultural town about six miles east of Port Gibson on MS Highway 18. The town was probably more prosperous in the past, but not much is happening here now. People hang around, stores are closed, and the shopette sells cigs and beer coolers. The surrounding area has cotton and soybean fields and timber. What can be done to revive towns like this? We can send a trillion Dollars to bail out the politically-connected investment banks in New York but yet allow small towns to rot away?




A friend and I stopped to take photographs. The locals were a bit curious and friendly. They may not get many tourists here.















Drive west on Highway 80 towards Port Gibson and you come to "The Store," a classic Mississippi juke joint. We stopped to photograph. The proprietor came by in a pickup truck full of little kids. She was very nice and said she was trying to make a living and did not allow any violence or drugs in her place. She invited us to come by some Friday night.



I took the color photographs with a Sony DSC-W7 digital camera. And I exposed the black and white frames on Kodak Panatomic-X fine-grain film using a Fuji GW690II 6x9 camera. I developed it in Rodinol 1:50. The classic thin-emulsion Panatomic-X is my all-time favorite film. Used carefully, it shows astonishing detail. I still have plenty in the freezer and plan to keep using it.