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. 

2021 Mid-State Road Trip - Central Mississippi (Hopewell and Crystal Springs)

Last May, mid-COVID, I was bored, restless, and grumpy. My wife and I had not been far afield in over two years. Walking and bicycling were getting boring. It was time for another road trip to central Mississippi.

Utica

Harris Carmichael Store, MS 27 (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens)

Porch at Harris Carmichael Store

The Harris Carmichael Store is on Hwy. 27 near Utica. Mr. Carmichael died in 2005, and I do not know if the store operated after that date. It is is good condition, so someone maintains the property.

Hopewell and Vicinity

I had driven on Hopewell Road before while driving from Mendenhall to Crystal Springs. I saw some old buildings that were worth another visit. I returned on May 20 with Royal Gold 25 film in my Leica and looked around. The unincorporated community of Hopewell, in Copiah County, is pretty quiet.

House, Tillson Road off MS27, Crystal Spring (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens) 

Fixer-upper house, 1148 Hopewell Road, Hopewell (25mm ƒ/4 Color-Skopar lens)

Fixer-upper house, 1162 Hopewell Road, Hopewell (25mm ƒ/4 Color-Skopar lens)

Fixer-upper, Hopewell Road, Hopewell 

Come on, give me some tender loving care, Old River Road, Hopewell

The red door, Hopewell Road (1/2 sec. ƒ/11, 50mm Summicron-DR lens)

Where is my VCR? Hopewell Road near MS 27, Crystal Springs (1/8 ƒ/16, 50mm Summicron)

How do you really think? Hopewell Road near MS 27, Crystal Springs (50mm Summicron)

These are negatives from the long-discontinued Kodak Royal Gold 25 film. I knew that it had been frozen since new and felt confident that it would be viable. I exposed it at Exposure Index (EI) = 16 in my Leica M2 camera. For many frames, I used my Leitz 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens and tripod-mounted the camera. This was the Type 2 Summicron from the 1960s, a superb optic that many film photographers still use. I scanned the negatives with a Plustek 7600i film scanner operated with Silverfast Ai software.

My previous experiments with Ektar 25 film, which was the same emulsion, were less successful, most likely because the Ektar was even older. For current use, buy the modern Ektar 100 film.