From the Archives: Rolling Fork, Mississippi

Rolling Fork, the county seat of Sharkey County, is a city in the southern Mississippi Delta north of Vicksburg. On March 24, 2023, a deadly EF4 tornado struck the city and flattened a strip through the community. The tornado killed 17 people in Rolling Fork and in nearby Midnight and Silver City. In March, my wife and I donated bottled water to the relief effort (photographs in my May 13 post). 

While sorting through folders of negatives and slides, I found some early 2000s digital and film photographs from Rolling Fork. Here is a quick look when the was semi-intact. The town had been poor and struggling economically for decades, so much of the downtown was in poor condition even 20+ years ago.

Bear Affair, 2008

Rolling Fork celebrates the Great Delta Bear Affair most years. The photograph above was from a cheerful 2008 Affair. The fest celebrates the time that president Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a baby bear that had been tied to a tree for him. A toy company saw the marketing potential, and the Teddy Bear has become a beloved children's toy. Despite the tornado damage, Bear Affair returned to Rolling Fork on October 27 and 28. I was out of state, but I read that Elvis showed up. Darn, missed the good stuff again.

Former Courtney's Store (hardware and garden supplies). 

Courtney's Store was a long-time hardware and garden supply vendor on Walnut Street. A friend and I explored many years ago and saw vacuum tubes and other goodies in the back. Mrs. Courtney's son, Willard, was our hairdresser in Vicksburg for some years. He was murdered during a drug deal in Rolling Fork sometime after 2010. 

McKenzie's store, also on Walnut, was mostly demolished by the tornado.

Sharecropper cottage south of town near the former Red Barn

The former Red Barn, built in 1918, collapsed on April 30, 2011. All wood has been removed, but the two silos still stand.

Mont Helena mansion north of town.

Mont Helena is a remarkable colonial revival mansion built by Helen Johnstone and George Harris in 1896. Fire destroyed the first mansion, and I do not know if the one you see today is from 1896 or slightly later. In the late-1980s, the house was vandalized and a wreck, but various owners lovingly restored it. Somewhere, I have some slides of the house in its ruined condition.

53 East China Street, March 2003 (Olympus OM2s camera, 35mm ƒ/2.8 Zuiko Shift lens, Fuji Superior 200 film)

China Street, once a busy commercial hub, was lined with abandoned stores. I do not know their condition now.

24 East China Street, the former Danzig's Furniture store

Barnes' Grocery 614 Chestnut Street) and an asphalt-sided shotgun house (612 Chestnut).

Blue Front Cafe, Chestnut Street (50mm ƒ/3.5 Zuiko Auto-Macro lens)

Grace United Methodist Church, 6260 Grace Road, Grace, Mississippi (35mm Shift Zuiko lens)

The residents of Rolling Fork are a tough bunch and are in the process of rebuilding. Good for them. 

I took the 2003 photographs with an Olympus OM2s camera on Fuji Superia 200 film. I still have two Olympus lenses and need to buy a body on which to use them.

Tragedy in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

March 24, 2023, tornado path (from AccuWeather via Yahoo)

On Friday, March 24, 2023 around 8:00 pm, a tornado rated at EF-4 tore through west central Mississippi. It touched down just southwest of the small town of Rolling Fork before moving northeast toward Midnight and Silver City and then continuing toward Tchula, Black Hawk and Winona. 

Tornado path within Rolling Fork (from 25ABC)

In Rolling Fork, the terrific winds flattened many blocks of the little town, flipped cars, knocked down the water tower, and shredding trees. The storm killed 26 people that night in Mississippi, with 16 in Rolling Fork. It is a town of fewer than 2,000 residents. Muddy Waters claimed it as his hometown.   

The town was a real mess. We could not drive on the side streets away from US 61, but that was enough to show the damage.

The truck's horn abruptly started beeping when we were next to it. Some power company employees climbed up to it and thumped the body. The horn stopped.

Power company crews repairing electric lines

Scott Petroleum at 19840 US-61 (Samsung phone photo)

Highway 61 had already been bulldozed clear by March 28. 

Have a seat, Hwy 61

The State Police were routing through traffic on Hwy 1 around Rolling Fork. But US 61 was open for repair trucks, supplies, and ambulances.

Snapped tree, Race Street

Note how the tree has been shattered but the nearby house was intact. Astonishing.

Deer Creek

Deer Creek starts in Bolivar Lake and winds its way south through the Mississippi Delta. I have taken pictures in Onward, Leland, and other small towns through which Deer Creek flows.

The water truck (Samsung phone photo)

Water donations at Sharkey-Issaquena Academy

The tornado tore through the Delta while my wife and I were in Houston. We drove home via Shreveport, Louisiana. We bought water in Shreveport to donate because we thought most bottled water supplies anywhere near the disaster zone would be gone. But as of Tuesday afternoon, March 28, there was plenty of water on pallets. Still, the volunteers were glad to have our packages. 

The tornado knocked down Rolling Fork's water tower. I do not know the status of a repair. 

For more photographs of tornado damage, Reuters posted an excellent collection taken from drones and by news reporters on the scene.

I hope the residents can rebuild and put their lives back together. 

The little town of Silver City was also devastated. I have not been there for post-storm pictures. But I have photographed there in 2020 and 2022 (click the links). 

I took these photographs on Kodak Portra 160 film with a Pentax Spotmatic camera and the 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens. Dwayne's Photo developed the film and I scanned it with my Plustek 7600i film scanner. 

Vicksburg with a Hasselblad 100mm ƒ/3.5 CSi Lens and Fuji Pro 160 NS Film (Abandoned Films 10)

After successfully completing some medical treatments, I was overcome with a serious bout of GAS. That is Gear Acquisition Syndrome, although the other gas was also present. 

Hasselblad 501CM with 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar CSi lens and correct hood

For over five years, I used an 80mm Planar lens on my Hasselblad. But sometimes, I wanted just a bit more reach. With 35mm cameras, I liked the 55mm ƒ/1.8 Super-Takumar lens on the Pentax Spotmatic. This was just marginally longer than the more common 50mm. Hasselblad's 100mm Planar lens would provide a diagonal coverage on 6×6 approximately equal to 55mm on 35mm, so I started looking at online vendors in USA. Soon, this gorgeous 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar CSi lens came in a big padded box from Camera West. This is a 6-element Planar design and is reputed to be the highest resolution Hasselblad lens for distant subjects.

On a foggy and drizzly January day (my favorite light), I loaded a roll of Fuji Pro 160 NS film in the holder and headed out. This is a neutral color balanced film designed for wedding, fashion, and commercial product photography. Fuji did not distribute 160NS in the USA and discontinued it in the Japan market in October 2021.  

I posted these frames at 2400 pixels wide, so click any picture to see the details. Most were tripod-mounted.

Polk Street view east, January 7, 2023, 1/15 ƒ/11

Monroe Street looking south from China Street. The former Junius Ward YMCA is to the right.

Pearl Street near Fairground Street, 1/15 ƒ/16

2521 Pearl Street, still occupied (taken from railroad tracks)

501-509 Fairground Street (taken from railroad bridge), 1/15 ƒ/16

Floodwall and Bunge Corporation, Levee Street, view south (hand-held)

1109 Mulberry Street, view east, 1/30 ƒ/11

LD's Restaurant is in a building that formerly housed a club/bar (closed several times because of shootings) and a liquor store.

Railroad yard from Levee Street - 250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, 1/4 ƒ/22

2427 Washington Street - 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens

I added two frames that I took with my 80mm and 250mm lenses. Hasselblad's 100mm lens is considered to be their "sharpest" (whatever that means in internet fantasy-land), but all the Zeiss lenses are superb performers. My Planar-CB is a 6-element design, in contrast to the more common 7-element models. My 250mm Sonnar is a 1960s silver barrel model with single coating, but it is just fine.

I found a very handy padded bag to hold my camera on the car seat next to me or on the floor. The rest of the kit stays in a larger camera bag. This is a Ruggard Onyx 35, only $17.95 from B&H. $17.95? That is the cost of a roll of film now. The original idea came from a WalMart lunch box that my wife suggested, but this Onyx is well-sewn and protective. Highly recommended.

Thank you all for joining me on this semi-random tour of Vicksburg.

Verichrome Pan Film in Mississippi and Louisiana (Abandoned Films 06b)

In 2020, my friend from Indiana sent me a roll of the long-departed Kodak Verichrome Pan film in 120 size (for medium format cameras). I used it on a snowy day in Vicksburg in early 2021 and loved the results. It was high resolution and just perfect for my type of photography. I never tried Verichrome Pan when it was in production, but now I wish I had. 

I have had surprisingly good results with discontinued black and white films such as Kodak Panatomic-X and GAF Versapan. But it is always a gamble with expired film and I decided to only buy fresh product from now on. Well, as you can guess, I was unable to stick to my own advice. A seller on eBay claimed two rolls of Verichrome Pan had been frozen for years, so I succumbed to temptation.

Of the two rolls, the first was perfect. The other was so thin, it was useless. That is the risk of buying expired film. I used that first roll in the Mississippi Delta on a blazing hot June day with harsh and unforgiving light. The camera was my Rolleiflex 3.5E with its 5-element 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. Even today, this 1959 camera is totally usable and optically excellent. Used Rolleiflexes in good condition sell for serious $$s on eBay or via auction houses now. Click any photograph below to see it expanded.

Louise, Mississippi

Louise is a small agricultural town in Humphreys County west of Yazoo City. It consists of a small core of houses with silos and former shops along Main Street. It may have been busy decades ago, when the railroad ran through town. But today, it is forlorn.

Main Street view north, Louise, Mississippi (1/30 ƒ/11, Rollei orange filter)

Main Street, Louise

Silos (1/15 ƒ/16, orange filter)

Main Street stores, Louise (1/30 ƒ/16, yellow filter)

Lee Hong Grocery, Louise (1/60 ƒ/11.3, yellow filter)

Quiet afternoon in Louise

Yazoo City, Mississippi

Yazoo City was the "Gateway to the Delta." It is still a busy town with a harbor on the Yazoo River. Timber is a major product. But the town is a bit rough.

Fixer-upper store, West Broadway, Yazoo City (1/60 ƒ/11.5, yellow filter)

Garage and gin, 301 West Bridge Street (1/125 ƒ/8, yellow filter)

Tallulah, Louisiana

The last stop on our Verichrome Pan trip is Tallulah, Louisiana. Tallulah is just off I-20 about 20 minutes west of the Mississippi River bridge.

Former Tallulah High School, Bayou Drive (1/30 ƒ/11.5, orange filter)

This was a blazing hot (95º + F) afternoon with harsh sun. I had one frame left and stopped at the old Tallulah high school. Much of the roof has collapsed, but the brick walls remain. The ball field to the left out of the picture view is still in use. It is sad that these handsome brick buildings are abandoned.

This ends our short Verichrome Pan tour. I probably should have dialed back from the orange filter to deep yellow or just plain medium yellow. Internet users claim that Kodak's discontinued Plus-X film was very similar in tonality and grain. My friend will send a couple of rolls of 35mm Plus-X for me to try. I'll post the results later.

Note: some film users on the internet believe the new Kentmere 100 in 120 size looks much like Verichrome Pan. I need to try it. Kentmere is made by Ilford company, and the 120 size is a recent (early 2023) introduction. 

Mississippi Doors

End of Year Note

Dear Readers, this is the end of 2022. Thank you for reading and please add comments if something interests you. If you are looking for a certain topic, type a key word in the search box to the right. Most of my articles have been indexed by location or camera type, but the search tool will look for that word even within the text.

Doors

Some decades ago, I did a study of Greek doors. That was not too innovative because there were already tourist picture books on Greek doors for sale in bookstores and at the Athens airport gift shops. But still, Greece does have interesting doors, especially in the rural villages. When I make time, I will look over some of my old Greek slides for a revival here in Urban Decay. 

Some of you long term readers may remember the Doors of Nepal (click the link). 

Let us look at doors again, but here in Mississippi. We will take a semi-random tour around the state looking at unusual or interesting doors - portals to another world.

Jackson Southwest Hotel, 2648 US 80, west Jackson (Panatomic-X film, 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Arlington mansion, Natchez (Tri-X Prof. film, 135mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar-S II lens, yellow-green filter)

Doorway to pleasure, Eagle Lake (Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 80mm Planar-CB lens). The outhouse is no longer extant, but I did use it while it stood.

Store in Hermanville (Rolleiflex 3.5E, Schneider 75mm Xenotar lens, Panatomic-X film)

Club next to former Jo-Anna Motel, North Washington Street, Vicksburg

Former corner store, 1620 Main Street, Vicksburg (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera)

Former store, Hwy 28, Union Church (Fuji Acros film, Canon 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens)

Burks Gro., Burk Road, Utica (GAF Versapan film, 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color-Skopar lens)

Slightly unused store, 2201 Simpson Highway, D'Lo (Tri-X 400 film, 90mm ƒ/6.8 Angulon lens)

Shed, Mississippi Basin Model, Buddy Butts Park, Jackson (TMax 100 film, Olympus Trip 35 camera)

What lies beyond these doors. Is there anything interesting? Just junk? A snake or two?

Thank you for following along. Standby for more Mississippi doors soon.