On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Mound and Tallulah, Louisiana (LA-02)

Dear Readers, I want to continue exploring the Dixie Overland Highway. I will start at the Mississippi River Bridge in east Louisiana and proceed west. 

From the Federal Highway Administration

To remind you were are picking up this journey on historic US80, here are some maps from the Federal Highway Administration's "Highway History." These histories about the development of our cross-continent roads are very interesting. The Arizona DOT also has an interesting history of the alignment and changes over time, including the removal of the designation of US 80.

Mound

The tallest structures in this area are grain elevators (or silos?). Some of them are impressive towers of steel and concrete. Are they not vulnerable to tornadoes, hurricanes, and lightning? Regardless, they make great photographic subjects.

Silos on Duckport Road (near Vicksburg-Tallulah Airport), Mound, LA (Tri-X Prof. film, 240mm ƒ/9 G Claron lens)

These silos are on Duckport Road in Mound (one interstate exit east of Tallulah). The thunderstorm was approaching - my favorite light.

Tallulah

Tallulah is the parish seat of Madison Parish (Louisiana does not have counties but instead divides the state into parishes). I have photographed there before in 2013 and 2018. Being only 30 minutes west of Vicksburg on I-20, it is easy to reach. The old Dixie once ran right through downtown. 

Bunge Corp. elevator, LA 602, Tallulah (GAF Versapan film, 135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, yellow filter, ¼ ƒ/16.5)

When I bike on LA 602, I pass this tall elevator/silo complex just south of US 80. Late afternoon on July 4, a thunderstorm was approaching and the light was ominous. I only had time for one exposure with my 4×5" camera before the drops started to fall. Within a minute, a monsoon was coming down. I hustled the equipment into the back of the car and headed home through the deluge. This is another test photograph using 1960s GAF Versapan film. Click the picture to expand and see the amazing detail.

Bunge Corp. elevator, LA 602, Tallulah (Kodak Tri-X film, 135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, polarizing filter, 1/30 ƒ/22)

Here is the same scene with a blue sky and puffy clouds. The 135mm Caltar-S II lens is a recent purchase with impressive resolution. The shutter is fine despite being 1970s vintage.

Bottling plant, 701 E. Green St (US 80), Tallulah (Fuji Acros film, Leica M2, 50mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-DR lens, yellow filter)

Interior of bottling plant (Fuji Acros film, 25mm ƒ/4.0 Color-Skopar lens, 1/15 ƒ/5.6)

The former Coca Cola bottling plant at 701 East Green Street (US 80) sits forlorn and unused, year after year. I saw bales of straw and some trailers inside, so maybe someone uses it for storage. I did not see any bottling machinery inside.

E. Green St. (US 80) view east, downtown Tallulah (Moto G5 digital file)

US 80 follows East Green Street in town and passes right by the Madison Parish courthouse.

Gas Sta., E. Green (US 80) and Chesnut, Tallulah (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens, yellow filter)

Original arched door in former gas station (Moto G5 digital file)

This old-fashioned gas station at the corner of East Green Street (US 80) and Chestnut probably served travelers on the old Dixie Highway in the pre-interstate era. The building is in good condition and the tile roof looks like it might have been re-tiled recently.

Chestnut Street at Craig, Tallulah (Fuji Acros film, 25mm ƒ/4.0 Color-Skopar lens)

Chestnut north of East Green is a bit dreary. Some strip malls are pretty rough.

These old stores right across Chestnut from the courthouse are crumbling. Some of the units no longer have roofs. This is a photograph with my newly-acquired Voigtländer Color-Skopar 25mm ƒ/4.0 lens. This is a modern Japanese-made lens, not one from the old pre-1970s German production. The light was harsh and contrasty.

Another old commercial block is on Chestnut south of the railroad tracks. These units were partly occupied. The big water tower looms over the block.

Dabney Street is not too inspiring, but it leads to farm fields.

This has been a short visit to a Dixie Overland Highway town. In the next few articles, we will continue heading west. Thank you for riding along!

Lost to Fire: Powers Country Store, Grangeville, Louisiana

In early 2017, I visited the extremely interesting Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, Louisiana. This is the research facility that helped confirm the existence of gravitational waves. A similar laboratory is in Hanford, Washington, and the two confirm each other's observations. On my way home, I drove west and north on the way back to Mississippi. Passing through Grangeville, I saw Power's Country Store on LA 37. Quick stop. The proprietor generously let me take some photographs inside with my Rolleiflex. This was one of these handy stores that sold munchies, drinks, hardware, and various other supplies. It was active with customers coming and going.

The outside looked like an old building with many additions over the years. Its not possible to tell what was there in the late-1800s.

The steps led to the part of the store with hardware, seed, and feed

The inside was a fascinating look at an older time. Mounted deer on the walls. Miscellaneous snacks and groceries. Tools, seeds, and automotive supplies on a higher level. Bare light bulbs and fluorescent tubes - nice stuff. Old-timers, bubbas, and children milled around.

These interior scenes were 1-second tripod-mounted exposures on Kodak Tri-X 400 film. I bought some cold juice, thanked the folks at the counter, and headed home.

I forgot about these negatives and did not scan them until July of 2020. Then I looked for information about Powers Country Store and was horrified to learn that it burned down on June 26, 2018, only a year after I visited. From WAFB 9 (Baton Rouge):

GRANGEVILLE, LA (WAFB) - An old neighborhood grocery store that has been a staple in St. Helena Parish for more than a century is gone. Powers Country Store in Grangeville was destroyed by fire Monday night. 

Flames shot nearly 20 feet into the air as firefighters battled the massive blaze at Powers at around 10:30 p.m. Cell phone video taken by someone who witnessed the destruction spread quickly on social media, perhaps because the old store holds a piece of rich history. It has been open since 1896. An old, rusted sign bearing the store's name and the couple, Frank and Ramona, that started a restaurant some 60 years ago is all that remains.

From The Advocate (Times-Picyune, New Orleans):

Until the fire, the Powers Store remained a vibrant place for people living and working in the area, including the local gravel pit workers, Graves said.

“Usually at lunch time the parking lot is packed,” Graves said. “Now I don’t know what they’re going to do, I guess go to the truck stop a little farther south. It is going to really sting not having it there.”

Suzanne Hornsby Hobgood was among several people who stopped by Tuesday to extend condolences. She said she remembered buying candy from Frank and Ramona Powers when she was a kid. As an adult, she brought her family to do the same.

“I’d come out here and bring my children. And now I’ve been bringing my grandchildren,” she said.

Hobgood said the store was filled with history, including an antique cash register, deer mounts from hunting trips and old photographs. 

I am sad; this is how we lose out cultural heritage. As time goes by, people forget. Within a few years, almost no one will remember that Powers Country Store once existed and served the community.

Older Urban Decay articles about country stores (please click the links):

Lorman, Mississippi
Lorman, Mississippi in 2019
Farnham, Virginia
Roy's Store, Chatham, Mississippi
Onward, Mississippi
Learned, Mississippi
Betigheimer Store, Edwards, Mississippi
Willis Store, Edwards, Mississippi
Yates Store, Utica, Mississippi
Twin Arrows, Arizona (Route 66)

1960s GAF Versapan Pack Film: more Mississippi and Louisiana Samples

In the previous article, I wrote about how a friend gave me a cooler full of GAF Versapan 4×5" film packs. These had been in his freezer since the 1960s. GAF stopped producing consumer film in the 1970s, so these were definitely an unusual photographic item for this day and age. The first pack was totally viable when developed in Xtol by Northeast Photographic in Maine. I used a second film pack during some outings to the Mississippi Delta and to eastern Louisiana in June of 2020, before the heat became too beastly. I exposed the film at EI = 64, which looked good on the first pack that I tested in April. Here are some examples from Vicksburg and nearby. I posted these at 2400 pixels on the long dimension, so click any picture to see the amazing detail recorded on 4×5" film.

Vicksburg

The Tomato Place, 3229 US 61 south, Vicksburg, Mississippi (90mm ƒ/6.8 Angulon lens, yellow-green filter; note some irregular development streaks)

The Tomato Place (135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, yellow-green filter, ½ ƒ/22)

The Tomato Place is a friendly store with good produce and munchies. Mallory graciously lets me take photographs there. I photographed inside in 2017.

Ergon refinery, Haining Road, Vicksburg (240mm ƒ/9 G Claron lens, Nikon deep yellow filter, ⅛ ƒ/45)

Mississippi Lime, Haining Road, Vicksburg (240mm ƒ/9 G Claron lens, polarizing filter, ⅛ ƒ/32)

Louisiana

Bunge silo, LA 602 , Tallulah, Louisiana (135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, yellow filter, ¼ ƒ16-22)

This tall silo is off Louisiana Route 602, where I sometimes bike. I am not sure if it is in use because the siding that leads by the facility is in disrepair. This photograph is from July 4, when a thunderstorm was pending and the sky was dramatic. I only had time for one frame and the drops began to fall. In 2 or 3 minutes, it was monsoon.

Silos off US 80, Waverly, Louisiana (90mm ƒ/6.8 Angulon lens, orange filter, ⅒ ƒ/22)

This Versapan film works well for these industrial buildings, but I need to be careful about overexposing light material, like the gravel.

Unused cotton gin, LA 568 (Lake Drive), Ferriday, Louisiana (135mm ƒ/4.5 Xenar lens, orange filter, ⅒ ƒ/22); note irregular development streak)

This was an unused cotton gin in Ferriday, Louisiana. While I was taking this picture, a gent from the agricultural machinery company across the street came over to see my camera. He said the ladies in the office were most perplexed that someone was standing out in the 35º C heat with a camera. He generously offered some cold water, a restroom, and some air conditioning. Louisianans are very accommodating.

Delhi water works (180mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar IIN lens, yellow filter, ⅛ ƒ/32)

Using 50-year-old Versapan film has been a rewarding experience. I am not sure how often I will use it because the thin material is a bit hard to handle. But I am glad to have this option. And I am amazed that 50-year-old film is still so viable. Will our digital files be readable in 50 years?

This is no. 03b of my irregular series on Abandoned Films.

Update: Click the link to see examples from 35mm Versapan (February 2021)

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - east Louisiana (LA-01)

Mississippi River bridges at Vicksburg, with I-20 on left and US 80 on right, 2005 during low-water (Rolleiflex 3.5E camera)

The historic Dixie Overland Highway crossed the Mississippi River just south of Vicksburg on the Old Vicksburg Bridge. Then, it headed almost due west towards Tallulah, Monroe, Shreveport, Dallas, and, eventually, San Diego.

1996 aerial photograph of Mississippi River bridges, view west towards Louisiana (Kodachrome film, Nikon F3 camera) 

The Vicksburg Bridge & Terminal Co. built the Old Bridge during 1928-1930. It featured a single railroad track and a dual lane highway. It was open to vehicle traffic until 1998 and has been closed since then except for special events, like the annual Bricks and Spokes bicycle ride. Kansas City Southern still runs many trains a day across the bridge. The Interstate 20 bridge, on the left in the photographs above, opened in 1973 when I-20 was under construction.

There is not too much to see in the little Louisiana town of Delta. US 80 heads west past farm fields and some forest land. The Kansas City Southern railroad tracks parallel the highway.

Former depot, Mound, Louisiana, Kodak Ektar 25 film, Rolleiflex 3.5F camera, 75mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens

Mound was a farming community with a depot and a general store. I photographed the depot in 2005, but it has since been moved to Lake Bruin (it has been preserved). I also have photographs somewhere of the general store. Today, the Vicksburg-Tallulah regional airport is just north of US 80. There are some nice homes on Rte 602 between US 80 and I-20.

Scott Field, Tallulah, Louisiana (Fuji Velvia film, Leica M3 camera)

Just east of Tallulah, the historical Scott Field is within sight of US 80. This was one of the original stops for the young Delta Airlines in the 1930s, and the terminal reflects typical 1930s airport architecture. The field is now used for crop-dusting aircraft and this handsome building (with zinc roof tiles) has been restored.

Snyder Street, Tallulah, Louisiana (Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens)

We reach Tallulah, a mid-size Louisiana farming town. Sadly, the downtown is pretty rough. The strip was formerly Snider Street, which paralleled the railroad tracks. Today, trains roar by and do not stop, and many of the stores are closed or collapsing. There must have once been a depot, but I do not know where. I have photographed Tallulah before. My wife and I occasionally bicycle on LA 602, which takes us through Tallulah on a wide swing through farm fields and forests.

This ends out short ride on the Dixie Overland Highway. In the future, I will to explore US 80 further west as it crosses central Louisiana.

1950s Excellence: the Leitz 50mm ƒ/2.0 Type 2 Summicron-DR lens

Leitz 50mm ƒ/2.0 dual range Summicron lens in original box. 

Introduction 

Leica's 50mm Summicron lenses have been famous for optical and mechanical excellence for over 60 years. Leica's term Summicron means a lens with maximum aperture of ƒ/2.0. They have been improved over the decades and are still in production - how many other consumer products have lasted over a half century? Even more amazing, a new lens will fit on a 50-year-old Leica M body, or a 60-year-old lens will work on a brand new film or digital body. When you consider the longevity, Leica lenses are reasonable price, despite the hatred (= envy) from many modern digital users.

A convenient summary with photographs of the different versions is on Ken Rockwell's site.

5cm ƒ/2.0 Summitar lens in extended (ready to photograph) position

Summitar

Ernst Leitz produced the predecessor lens, the 5cm Summitar, from 1939 to 1953, with 170,761 units total. War-time lenses were uncoated, but from 1946 on, they were anti-reflection coated. Eastman Kodak and Zeiss had coated optics for military use during World War II, but coating all air-glass surfaces on general civilian optics became widespread only after the war. The Summitar had a complicated design of 7 elements in 4 groups. Human computers using mechanical calculators and trigonometry tables must have made a heroic effort to compute the ray paths. The Summitar's central sharpness is superb, but the edges fall off and there is field curvature. This can be used creatively, and regardless, "sharpness" is not normally the factor that makes a photograph successful. For examples, please look at some of my 2017 Nepal articles. In 1953, the Summitar lens cost $158 in USA.

Summicron Type 1

E. Leitz introduced the first Summicron, the Type 1, in 1952. It was an update of the Summitar, also mounted in a collapsible barrel. This lens was also manually computed, although surely the workers used electrical tabulating machines. The first electronic computers after World War II were used for ballistics analysis, atomic weapons research, rocket trajectories, and military optics. The 1953 USA cost for the Summicron was $183.

A note on collapsible lenses: When the E. Leitz company introduced its first camera in 1923, it used perforated cine film but doubled the frame size to 24×36 mm. All other cameras then used much larger roll film or individual sheet film. So the new small image surface became known as miniature format. The cameras were intended for travel or adventures like mountain climbing. Therefore, the manufacturers wanted to make the cameras compact and portable. One way to do that was to build a lens in a barrel that could collapse into the body. As the years went by, cameras grew larger and heavier (like automobiles or, most grotesquely, American SUVs). The Zeiss Contarex of 1960 had grown to 910 grams for just the body. The Nikon F with its metering head was a big package, as well. And today, the digital single lens reflex (DSLR) in "full frame" size is a bulbous thing graced with a protruding penile lens that points at its subject like a cannon. Just tell DSLR users that they really have the miniature format.

1963 Type 2 Summicron lens with single focus range.

Summicron Type 2

E. Leitz introduced their Type 2 Summicron in 1956. It was in production until 1968. To improve the precision of the glass alignment, Leitz mounted Type 2 optics in a rigid barrel. It was a masterpiece of mechanical precision and elegance, but the construction of brushed chrome over brass made it heavy. This lens was also hand computed.

Leitz began computer-aided lens computations after about 1960 at their factory in Midland, Ontario, Canada, under the guidance of Dr. Walter Mandler (from Erwin Puts). It is an interesting history of international competition about this time. Japanese optical companies such as Canon, Nikon, and Topcon were also exploring new lens designs with the aide of early computers. They were able to market lenses with almost as refined optical characteristics as Leica but at lower price. The brilliance of the Japanese companies was to bring superb optics to a wide audience at reasonable price.

Leitz made two versions of the Type 2 lens. One had a single focus range covering 1m to infinity. The photograph above shows a 1963 lens that I bought from a friend in town. It was available in M-mount  (63,055 units) as well as the 39mm thread mount (1160 units; now a rare collector item).

1967 Dual range Summicron without goggles.

Dual range Summicron with goggles attached on the flat plate. The lens has been extended to its closest focus distance.

The second version had a dual focus range and is known as the DR. The normal range was 1.0 m to infinity. But if you wanted to focus on a closer object, you slid a spectacle viewfinder attachment onto a flat plate on the top of the lens. The goggles depressed a button, which let the lens focus from 0.48 to 0.88 m. The goggles correct the parallax of the rangefinder view. It was a clever way to let a rangefinder camera focus more closely than the normal 0.8 or 1.0 meter. A reflex camera does not have these limitations, but in the 1950s, most miniature camera photographers were still using rangefinders. Total production was 55,145 units.

Note: the goggle units varied slightly in design over the production period. You must have the correct unit for your lens for it to mount and focus correctly.

My stepdad bought the DR in the pictures above in 1966 or 1967. This lens and M2 camera took family pictures in Greece and traveled to Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, and North America. Now it photographs urban decay in Mississippi and Louisiana. This one has pristine coating.

I could not find a complete Leica price booklet from the 1960s, but I found a few prices in US $ for M2 body and lenses:

• M2 w/50mm ƒ/2 rigid Summicron 423.00
• M2 w/50mm ƒ/2 DR Summicron 465.00

Optical unit and focus mount of Summicon-DR lens. Serial numbers must match.

Special note: the optical unit can be unscrewed from the focus unit. If you buy a used DR lens, the serial numbers must match. Do not accept an unmatched lens. 

I also have a Type 4 50mm Summicron from 1984 or 1985 production. I will write about it in a future article. It is mounted in a lighter weight black alloy barrel as opposed to the gorgeous brushed chrome of my DR unit.

Examples with Kodak BW400CN film

On a recent day trip through rural Mississippi south of I-20, I grabbed a roll of Kodak BW400CN. I have had mixed results with this film in the past. Sometimes it looks muddy, but sometimes I like the tonality. Could there be differences in the C-41 chemistry? Regardless, here are a few samples from my Leica M2 and the 50mm Summicron-DR. I was surprised how the film renders green as quite light, but only for long exposures in settings such as dense underbrush. I do not recall seeing this before. The BW is pretty grainy, but I like the effect. (Click any picture to enlarge it.)

Abandoned farm house, Rte 18 in Brandon, Mississippi.

Remains of a gasoline station, Raleigh (with polarizer filter).

Big Smittys, MS Hwy 149, Mendenhall. This is a former Pan-Am filling station. 

Main Street, Mendenhall. Polarizer used to darken sky.

Shop on MS 28 east of Georgetown.

Historic Crossroads Store on Old Port Gibson Road, Reganton.

References

Laney, D. 1994. Leica Camera and Lens Pocket Book, 6th Edition revised and updated, Hove Collectors' Books, East Sussux, UK, 142 p.

Other

An interesting 2007 article about Leica cameras is in The New Yorker, September 24, 2007 issue, Candid Camera, The cult of Leica.

Update Dec. 2020: Here are silos in Delta, Louisiana, taken with long-expired GAF Versapan film. Click to enlarge.

Silos, Levee Road, Delta, Louisiana (GAF Versapan film, Summicron-DR lens, orange filter)