Exploring John R. Lynch Street and West Jackson, Mississippi

University Boulevard

University Boulevard is a major thoroughfare that takes you from I-20 to just east of Jackson State University and into older residential neighborhoods in West Jackson. 

This former restaurant at 1336 University with the log cabin look resembles road houses and restaurants I have seen in Michigan, Indiana, and other upper Midwest states. The stone facing on the lower part is another unusual decorative element.

John R. Lynch Street

The 900 block of John R. Lynch Street is on the 2021 list of 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi. From 10 Most:

Named for the first African American elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, John R. Lynch Street is the gateway to Jackson State University.  Significant historic sites along the corridor include the COFO Office, Mt. Olive Cemetery, Masonic Temple, Ayer Hall, and NAACP Headquarters.  To the east of campus, Lynch Street now consists mostly of vacant lots, with four buildings in yjr 900 block serving as a reminder of what was once a bustling African American commercial district.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Chambliss Shoe Hospital was operated by Jesse R. Chambliss from 1936 until the 1970s.  A prominent leader in the African American community, Chambliss was a founding member of the Jackson Negro Chamber of Commerce and State Mutual Savings and Loan and organized the first African American Boy Scout Troup in Jackson.  The central building once housed the Ebony Theater, which was opened in 1947 by Dr. A.H. McCoy, who also owned the Ritz Theater on Farish Street.  Following the shooting deaths of Philip Gibbs and James Green by Jackson police in 1970, Lynch Street was closed off and the once-thriving African American business district entered a decline.  Today, the buildings of the 900 Block of John R. Lynch Street stand vacant, damaged by fire and the ravages of time.   

Unfortunately, little is left of the Ebony Theater and the adjoining shops.

The east end of the 900 block is anchored by a closed gas station. I assume there were once commercial buildings where you now see concrete and the former island for the gasoline pumps.

Rose Street

Corner store, 545 Rose Street

Convenience store, 602 Rose Street

Store and apartment, 546 Rose Street

No gas today, 1005 Robinson Road at Rose

Head north on Rose Street after turning off from John R. Lynch Street and the scene becomes seriously depressing. Most of the commercial establishments were closed. I was struck by how little traffic I saw. An occasional car came by with the driver looking at me curiously or totally engaged with her phone. Old-fashioned corner stores attest to once-busy neighborhoods. Where has everyone gone? Where do the current residents buy groceries?

Adjacent to 1005 Robinson Road at Rose

Razor wire on the roof? To keep thieves from repelling down the face of the shop? Very mysterious.

West Capitol and West Monument Streets

Art strip mall, 1204 West Capitol Street at Monument

Side of 1204 West Capitol Street

Plumbing supply company, 800 West Monument Street

Head east on West Monument Street and you soon cross under the railroad tracks and get into downtown Jackson. Monument must have once been a major arterial. Traffic still thumps by on the rutted pavement.

I took these photographs with my Fuji X-E1 digital camera and a Fujinon Super EBC 18mm ƒ/2 lens, all hand-held. This is a lens that "photographers" on digital reviewing sites claimed was not "sharp." OK.....

Return to Country Stores in Central Mississippi and Louisiana

Introduction

Years ago, rural residents depended on a country store that was close enough to reach on foot, wagon, or horse. These stores provided for most of their needs, such as groceries, seed, tools, sewing supplies, and hardware items. Today, most have closed and people drive to the supermarket or Walmart. We have lost part of our 19th and 20th century cultural background. Here are some country stores in central Mississippi and one in Louisiana. I have photographed some of them before but wanted to revisit them and see some new ones.  

Florence

Most of the scenery along Hwy 49 between Jackson and Hattiesburg is boring strip mall Americana, very uninspiring. But a few traditional stores linger in dilapidated strip malls like this one in Florence.  

D'Lo

D'Lo is a small town a short distance off Hwy 49 southeast of Jackson. It is mostly known for the water park, but there is an old commercial strip downtown. Most of the stores are closed.

Satartia

Satartia is a village off MS Route 3 between Vicksburg and Yazoo City. The last time I photographed the little store in Satartia, a fluorescent light was on inside, but I did not see any commercial activity. This is a 4×5" Tri-X frame taken with a 135mm Schneider Xenar lens.

Utica

This is the Harris Carmichael store on Hwy 27. The building is in good condition but I do not know when the business closed.

Edwards

This is the Morning Star Store on Old Port Gibson Road at the junction of Adams Station Road (GAF Versapan film). It has been closed for years.

This store is on Military Road near Edwards. Based on the size of the pine tree, I think there has not been any activity here for years. This a Panatomic-X photo taken with a Hasselblad and the 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens.

This is the Watley Store at 116 Bill Strong Road in near Edwards. 

Burk's Gro is on Cook Road west of Edwards. The day I took this picture, a guy came up to me and asked what I was doing. Duuh, taking a photograph. 

Midnight

Not much is left of this store on old US 49E in Midnight (name of the town). This is a Hasselblad exposure with the 80mm Planar lens.

Polkville

Vicksburg

This may not quite qualify as a country store. Let's call it a country liquor store. I seldom see cars parked outside and am not sure how much business it gets. 

Tallulah, Louisiana

This is the former Poboy Don's on Route 602 east of Tallulah, Louisiana. I recently biked by the store when some gents were repairing it to use as a hunting lodge. They said the building was post-World War II vintage. I photographed it years ago when it served po-boys (see Country Stores 15).  

Thank you all for riding along for this quick overview of country stores. There are many more in Mississippi and Louisiana, but I need to end this article. 

Good Stuff in the Attic: the Coca Cola Bottling Plant, Vicksburg

Dear readers, in my last article, I took photographs in the basement of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Washington Street in Vicksburg. The basement had some interesting heavy-duty machinery, patterns, shapes, pipes, and dust. How about the attic? The Open Market occupies the main floor of the old bottling factory and sells antiques and furnishings. I asked Lisa if I could photograph upstairs, and she graciously said I was free to go ahead. 

1977 payroll checks (with names removed)

I first went up to the attic with Mr. Cripps, the carpenter who rents the basement (see the previous article). Oh oh, trouble. A rooftop access trapdoor was open. A big egg was on the floor with some twigs and debris. A grumpy black vulture was on the roof beyond the trapdoor. We left the trapdoor and grumpy vulture alone. Later, some guys moved the egg and some straw out to the flat rood and closed the trapdoor. I hope a chick hatched successfully.

Roof ventilator turbines (minor fill flash to the right)

The attic is reasonably intact, and the the roof appears to be sound. This was a well-built structure. The attic floor is concrete, so no danger of falling through rotted flooring. 

Burroughs check-printing machine (1 sec. ƒ/8)

Burroughs check-printing machine platen detail (1 sec. ƒ/5.6)

This machine with a complicated keyboard almost surely printed the checks that you see in the first photograph. It may have also tabulated the amounts on some other media, maybe paper tape? Burroughs was an old-line American industrial concern that started in the 1880s with adding machines and branched into more sophisticated payroll systems. They moved into digital computers and developed main-frame systems in the 1960s, with emphasis on the banking sector. 

Gearbox of unknown purpose

The attic did not have too much material so I descended one floor to what was once the office space of the bottling plant.

The lavatory had some nice old porcelain steel sinks with dual water valves and high backsplash. Notice the slightly raised lip to reduce splashing over the sides. Compare with the typical modern bathroom sink, which is guaranteed to allow splash all over the vanity/floor and a soap film mess on the sheetrock behind. The worst examples of style over function are the goofy glass bowls sitting up on a platform or vanity. Really dumb. 

Radiator for hot water heat

Classic GE drop-in range with east-to-use button controls

At some time, likely the 1970s, the company built a kitchen on the second floor. The cabinets were generic, but the sink and range were matching avocado. Nice! The GE range had easy to use push button controls. The first button on the right is off, and the buttons to the left are for progressively higher temperatures. You can use them by touch and do not need reading glasses to see a programmable screen or LED display. Sometimes technology does not make machines easier to use. My former home in Massachusetts had a GE range with such buttons. Simple and reliable.

Former corner office? (Fuji X-E1 digital file converted to B&W)

Twist a Pepper Dr. Pepper bottle caps

These bottle caps contained numbers, possibly for some sort or promotion or prize. Twist enough caps from enough drinks and you get a prize (besides stomach rot).  

Finally, on the ground floor, a display of classic Coca-Cola bottles. I remember when these bottles contained 6.5 oz. And once upon a time, Coca-Cola was a treat that you drank possibly on Saturday afternoon or evening. A 6-pack lasted in the refrigerator all week. No one civilized drank soft drinks for breakfast or swilled it all day long in slurpy cups. How times have changed.... 

Good Stuff in the Basement: the Coca Cola Bottling Plant, Vicksburg

1938 Coca-Cola bottling plant, 2133 Washington Street, Vicksburg

Dear Readers, you likely know that I like old industrial sites with machinery, pipes, tubes, tanks, and other remnants of industry. The basement of the former Coca Cola bottling plant at 2133 Washington Street in Vicksburg, Mississippi, fits this criteria. This was the last bottling plant that the Biedenharn family built in Vicksburg. This sturdy 1938 brick industrial building stands at the corner of Washington Street and Bowman Street. 

Note, this is not the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum in downtown Vicksburg, where Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894 (back when it still had coca in the secret ingredients). The family also operated another plant on Grove Street, later the site of the Vicksburg Steam Laundry. I have negatives of this building to scan one day (you know that fairy tale - one day....).

Here are some photographs of the basement from February of 2022. Mr. Anthony Cripps, a carpenter and cabinet maker, was renting the basement and generously let me photograph the old fittings and machines. He had run new fluorescent lights to illuminate the gloomy space. Most of the frames below had side-lighting from the dusty windows. Enjoy the shapes, patterns, and forms - industrial art.

Air compressor (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, 1 sec. ƒ/11)

Compressor with a beer (80mm Planar-CB, 1 sec. ƒ/11.5)

Water-cooling jacket (80mm Planar with Proxar no. 1 close-up diopter)

Lubricator, manually cranked? (80mm Planar lens with Proxar no. 1 close-up diopter)

Back cap and bolt patters (80mm Planar-CB lens, 1 sec. ƒ/11)

GE electoral control box (80mm Planar-CB, ½ sec. ƒ/11)

Hot water boiler (1 sec. ƒ/11.5)

Fuse panel (4 sec. ƒ/11)

Among the hundreds of valves (1 sec. ƒ/5.6)

Stairway to upper shop (40 sec. ƒ/8 with minor fill flash on right)

The stairway was challenging. It was lit with a dim lightbulb above on the ceiling. My incident light meter measured 10 seconds at ƒ/8 on the center of the stairs. I used a 40 sec exposure to accommodate reciprocity of the film. I also added fill flash on the right, but it likely added very little light. 

Long-forgotten icebox (1 sec. ƒ/5.6½)

I took these photographs with my Hasselblad 501CM camera, most with the 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, on Kodak Tri-X 400 film. I stabilized the camera on a tripod because of the long exposures. Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, developed the film. I scanned it with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner.   

Standby for the attic in the next article.