Quick drive on North Washington Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Washington Street view north. Undated, from Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Washington Street: a distinguished name that honors our first president. Almost every city or town in the USA has a Washington Street, and Vicksburg is no exception. North Washington Street extends from approximately Grove Street to the junction with US 61 Bypass, a few miles south of the community of Redwood. At one time, US 61 ran through downtown Vicksburg along Washington Street, but the bypass was built in the 1970s to let heavy truck traffic avoid driving through downtown. We will take a quick look at N. Washington Street starting at Grove Street and move north.

North Washington Street from 61 Coffeehouse, Fuji Acros 100 film, Vito BL camera

Before our short exploration, a stop at the 61 Coffeehouse at 1101 Washington Street yields an excellent espresso and conversation with the barista ladies. The block just north of Grove Street (see the field in the photograph above) has been bare since before 1985. It probably fell prey to the "urban renewal" plague that hit Vicksburg in the 1970s.

Warehouse, corner of 1st East and N. Washington Street, Tri-X film

Some nondescript warehouses are at the corner of N. Washington Street and 1st East. From here north, Washington Street is reasonably flat and easy for bike riding.

Jo-Anna Motel, from the Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History

The Jo-Anna Motel (click the link to my 2011 article) was near the intersection where Haining Road turns off to the Port of Vicksburg. The Jo-Anna was torn down in the 2000s when the National Park Service bought the land. The land today is untended and a mess of weeds, mud, and scrubby trees.

Vicksburg Forest Products from Haining Road bridge over railroad, Vito BL camera, Acros 100 film, polarizing filter

The first big business that is visible from Washington Street is Vicksburg Forest Products (formerly Anderson-Tully Company). The tracks in the foreground continue as far north as the International Paper mill north of Redwood.

Corner of Hutson and N. Washington Streets, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter

3112 N. Washington Street, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter

3950 N. Washington Street, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter

Heading north from Haining Road (Port of Vicksburg), you pass small cottages, mobile homes, and churches.

Former detail shop at corner of Chicasaw Road (digital file)

Exact location unknown, N. Washington Street, Kodachrome film

This sign describing the Chicasaw Bayou battle has been moved, so I am not sure where I took this photograph. I have looked for the Corvair junk yard, but never found any remnants. The houses near the present sign are different.

Spouts Spring Road, Vicksburg, Hasselblad, 80mm Planar lens, expired Kodak Ektar 25 film

Cottages on Spouts Spring Road, Olympus Trip 35, TMax 100 film, yellow filter

Spouts Spring Road is a U-shaped road that runs east of N. Washington Street. There is a spring that has been channeled into a creek. I wonder if the water is drinkable and could be used rather than wasted? I sometimes ride here to avoid some of the truck traffic on the main road.

Margaret's Gro in 1985, 4535 N. Washington Street, Kodachrome 25 slide, Pentax Spotmatic, 28mm lens

Margaret's Gro & Market was a small market in the early 1980s. Then Reverend Dennis married Margaret and started to convert the grocery into his Temple to the Lord. Through the early 2000s, it was an amazing and unique example of folk art with vibrant paint and hand-made sculpture.

Margaret's Gro, Fuji Reala film, converted to black and white.

Reverend Dennis learned about brick work from German prisoners of war in World War II. His visitor book had signatures from hundreds of German tourists. The photographer, Suzi Altman, has many pictures of Margaret's Gro on her site. I have also written about it before (type Margaret's Gro in the search box).

Road from sand quarry, Rolleiflex 3.5E camera, Kodak Panatomic-X film

A sand or gravel quarry is east of N. Washington street, just a short distance south of the intersection with the 4-lane 61 Bypass. I recently noticed that a couple of old farm houses had been demolished (visible to the left in the picture above).

This ends out short ride down North Washington Street. Thank you for reading.

The Flood of 2019 (Part 1): Vicksburg, Mississippi

Introduction

The Mississippi River and Yazoo Backwater flood of 2019 will go down in the record books as one of the longest-lasting inundations in this part of the world. The Mississippi River rose above flood stage of 43 ft on the Vicksburg gauge in early January and stayed high June In the meantime, the central part of the state received record rainfall in January and February, filling creeks and streams in the Yazoo Backwater.

Plot of water level measured at the Vicksburg Gage, located near the Interstate 20 bridge. Major flood is defined as 50.0 ft on the gage. Plot from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Plot of Mississippi River stage over the first five months of 2019. Spike in mid-May is a bad data point.

Brief background

Let me digress with a short explanation of the hydrology of the region and why you see so much water. Levees (or dikes) line the Mississippi River all the way from central Missouri to the mouth of the river in the Gulf of Mexico, well south of New Orleans. The purpose of the levees is to prevent the river from flooding farmland and towns in the midwest during high river stages. The Yazoo River is a tributary of the Mississippi, meaning it flows into the larger river. The Yazoo drains west central Mississippi, much of it comprising the broad flat alluvial plain known as the Mississippi Delta (the same Delta famed for Blues music).

But during high water, several complicated issues arise:

• Problem no. 1: If the Mississippi River is in flood, the water will back up the Yazoo and inundate farmland and towns. Therefore, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) built levees along the Yazoo. The USACE installed flood control gates into the levee at a place called Steele Bayou, near the town of Redwood. The USACE closes the gates to prevent those flood waters from rolling over the farms of the southern Delta.
• Problem no. 2: If there has been heavy local rain in west central Mississippi, the streams and bayous of the Delta rise. But if the Mississippi is simultaneously in flood, the Steele Bayou gates are closed. Therefore, there is no place for the local runoff to drain out, and the water collects and rises behind (or north of) the gates. February to June of 2019 was one of these periods when both the Mississippi River was in flood and there had been torrential rain in the state of Mississippi – for weeks. There was no place for the water in the Yazoo Backwater to go, and the area experienced the longest-lasting inundation since the 1973 flood. 
• To add complexity to this problem: in 1941, Congress authorized the USACE to install pumps near Steele Bayou to pump Yazoo backwater water up and over the levee into the Yazoo River. However, the construction was not funded. These pumps would be some of the largest on earth and today would cost over $300 million. The EPA cancelled this project in 2008. Congress, farmers, and environmentalists have been fighting over the infamous pumps since the 1940s. You see where this is going….

I will divide this topic into three articles. This first will show photographs from Vicksburg and the area south of the Steele Bayou flood gate, meaning the area directly influenced by the water elevation on the Mississippi River. The next two articles will cover the terrain north of the Steele Bayou flood gate, the southern part of the Mississippi Delta (note, this is not the delta in the Gulf of Mexico - the terminology is confusing).

For some more information about how all this water reaches the Gulf of Mexico, see my 2011 article about the Old River Control.

Vicksburg scenes

Yazoo Canal from North Washington Street

These are the flooded woods next to the Yazoo Canal along North Washington Street. Unfortunately, many little forest animals like possums and raccoons come out of the woods and get hit by cars.

Big River Shipbuilders on Port Terminal Circle, Port of Vicksburg, March 21, 2019 (Fuji Acros film, Vito BL camera)

The shipbuilding and repair company needed to set up a floating walkway for their employees.

Ford Road, Vicksburg, March 8, 2019 (Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar CB lens)

The Ford subdivision, located just north of the Vicksburg Forest Products complex, floods almost every year recently. I asked an older gent why the houses were allowed to be built in this vulnerable area. He said in the past, other than during the historic 1973 flood, the land did not flood. If this is true, what had changed?

Young Alley, Vicksburg (80mm Planar lens)

Vicksburg Southern Railroad (VSOR) tracks extending north to International Paper mill north of Redwood (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens)

The cottages off Young Alley appeared to be dry this year. Further north, the Vicksburg Southern Railroad tracks serve as a levee, keeping the water partly away from North Washington Street.

Raised mobile home off Falk Steel Road, photograph taken from VSOR tracks, March 8, 2019 (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

The raised mobile home os on its own berm, therefore being safe from flooding. I saw a fellow leave the house and walk through the water using a garbage sack as a form of waders.

Kings Crossing Road west of N. Washington Street, March 15, 2019 (80mm Planar lens)

Kings Crossing Road leads west to some fields and woods. Many years ago, a fellow had a number of railroad postal cars parked in a field, but an old gent in a pickup truck said the rail cars were dragged away for scrap. The gent in the truck said the aluminum boat was his and he used it to get to his house.

Farm road off N. Washington Street, March 14, 2019 (250mm Sonnar lens)

In the photograph above, the flooded fields are beyond the railroad embankment and tracks.

The color photographs are from expired Kodak Ektar 25 film, exposed with a tripod-mounted Hasselblad 501CM camera with 50mm, 80mm, and 250mm Zeiss lenses. The colors are not quite right, but by using the gray dropper tool, the SilverFast scanner software recovered most colors.

High- and low-water records

From weather.gov:

Flood Categories (in feet)

Major Flood Stage:	50
Moderate Flood Stage:	46
Flood Stage:	43
Action Stage:	35

Historic Crests
(1) 57.10 ft on 05/19/2011
(2) 56.20 ft on 05/04/1927
(3) 53.20 ft on 02/21/1937
(4) 52.80 ft on 06/06/1929
(5) 52.50 ft on 04/28/1922
(6) 51.60 ft on 05/13/1973
(7) 51.50 ft on 02/15/1916
(8) 51.00 ft on 04/20/2008
(9) 50.23 ft on 01/15/2016
(10) 50.20 ft on 04/16/1897

Show More Historic Crests

(P): Preliminary values subject to further review.

Recent Crests
(1) 49.90 ft on 03/16/2018
(2) 48.50 ft on 05/25/2017
(3) 36.44 ft on 05/22/2016
(4) 43.32 ft on 03/18/2016
(5) 50.23 ft on 01/15/2016
(6) 37.32 ft on 12/14/2015
(7) 45.96 ft on 07/26/2015
(8) 37.84 ft on 06/08/2015
(9) 42.98 ft on 04/01/2015
(10) 38.40 ft on 04/20/2014

Show More Recent Crests

Low Water Records
(1) -7.00 ft on 02/03/1940
(2) -6.80 ft on 11/01/1939
(3) -5.80 ft on 01/06/1964

Footloose around Vicksburg with Black and White Film

Abandoned cement silos, Redwood, Mississippi

Dear Readers, Vicksburg is an interesting town topographically and historically. When the light is diffused, which means winter when there is rain or mist, I can't resist driving around and looking for interesting scenes. The following will be a semi-random set of film photographs. We will start in the north in Redwood on Hwy 3 and work our way south to U.S. 61 and then on into town. The silos in the photograph above have been empty since the 1970s. If you are interested in more views near Redwood:  https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-mississippi-delta-19-into-woods-in.html

Chimney, U.S. 61 north of Vicksburg near Redwood, Mississippi

This chimney sits all by itself just west of the southbound lane of 61. Most people drive by quickly and ignore it.

Road leading from gravel quarry, North Washington Street, Vicksburg (Update March 2019: the house on the left has been demolished)

Kings Point ferry boat landing, Chicasaw Road (Mamiya C220, 50mm lens)

Drive west on Chicasaw Road, and eventually you reach the ramp for the Kings Point Ferry. The ferry is operated by the Warren County Board of Supervisors and provides access to Kings Point Island. Most of the traffic consists of logging trucks and hunters, but if the weather has been dry for a few weeks, a 2-wheel drive car can pass on the roads.

Beulah Cemetery is a historic burial ground at the end of Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. The cemetery was overgrown and neglected for many years but has been cleaned and put on city maintenance during the last 5 years. It is a peaceful spot.

Empty house at 2228 MLK, Jr., Blvd, directly next to Beulah Cemetery

1904 MLK, Jr., Blvd., Vicksburg

Condemned house, 1844 MLK, Jr., Blvd, Vicksburg

Georgia Ave., Vicksburg

Head back downtown, and you pass empty or condemned houses on MLK, Jr. Blvd. Georgia Ave. drops steeply down to the south. There were once many more houses in this valley (and I may have some pictures of them from decades ago), but today, the City could cease maintenance of this road with no obvious inconvenience to anyone.

2212 Grove St., Vicksburg

We have lost many early-20th century houses and cottages. There just is not an economic incentive to fix up a house that has been neglected too long. This little asbestos-shingled cottage on  grove Street is an example.

61 Coffeehouse, Vicksburg

By now, it is time for a coffee. Vicksburg's best espresso or other java beverage can be found at 61 Coffeehouse at 1101 Washington Street, right at the corner of Grove Street. Decades ago, this building housed Velchoff's Restaurant. The always interesting Attic Gallery is upstairs.

Morgan Lane, east of Washington St. and south of Bowmar Ave.

2008 Pearl Street, Vicksburg

Pearl Street parallels the railroad tracks. Decades ago, Pearl Street was lined with modest cottages and shotgun houses. But residents and the operators of bed and breakfast homes complained of the noise from the locomotive horns. Over the years, the railroad bought properties and tore down the houses. And the city closed the grade crossing, after which the train engineers no longer needed to sound the warning horns. Click the link for photographs of many of these houses: https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2014/03/more-pearl-street-cottages-vicksburg.html

2511 Cedar Street, Vicksburg

We head east to Military Avenue, another historic part of town. Here, too, many of the early 20th century houses have been neglected or torn down.

Copeland's Bar & Grill, 2618 Halls Ferry Road, Marcus Bottom. As of 2018, the establishment looks closed.  

Marcus Bottom, Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg

We can end our short tour at Marcus Bottom, an old neighborhood at the junction of Marcus Street and Halls Ferry Road. A new convenience store has been built on the site of this toilet.

The square frames are from a Rolleiflex 3.5E 6×6 camera with 75mm f/3.5 Xenotar lens, using Panatomic-X film. Most of the horizontal frames are from a Fuji GW690II 6×9 camera with Fuji 90mm f/3.5 lens on Panatomic-X or Tri-X film. The grainier horizontal frames are from a Leica IIIC 35mm camera with Kodak TMax 100 film.

Margaret's Gro - Continuing Decay, Feb. 2017

Bad news on the folk art front: Margaret's Gro. is deteriorating badly. Margaret's Grocery, at 4535 North Washington Street, Vicksburg, was an amazing piece of imagination and devotion crafted by the Reverend Herman D."Preacher" Dennis. Margaret died in 2009, after which the reverend moved to a nursing home. Without his constant attention to painting and repair, his Temple to the Lord deteriorated and crumbled. Preacher Dennis died on September 4, 2012.

I occasionally bicycle to the site, and each time, the decay is more pronounced. Around 2010-2011, a group of preservationists tried to get funds to move and rebuild the temple in a protected space, but it was the depths of the recession, funds were unavailable, and the project did not proceed. Some of the sculpture and parts have been moved, but the bulk of the building is slowly collapsing.

The bus in 2014 was faded and in need of protection. as of mid-2017, it has been moved to another site for protection.

This is the grocery in 1985, about the time that H.D. Dennis married Margaret.

Only five years later, look what he had achieved. It was still a grocery, and you could buy some supplies there. But for the most part, the Gro. attracted tourists from all over the world. If any of you readers visit Vicksburg, take a look before it is gone completely.

Here are some older photographs, scanned from Kodachrome slides.

More tests of Tri-X film in Vicksburg and Jackson

With the return of my Fuji GW609II camera from repair (I broke it in Kingman, Arizona on my Route 66 tour), I wanted to check if the shutter was working properly and test if North Coast Photographic's processing of Tri-X suited my preferences for contrast and "look." The following pictures are 2400 pixels wide, so click any picture to see more details.

It is always nice to find a high viewpoint. This is the view looking southeast from the 10 South Rooftop Bar & Grill, which is atop the old First National Bank building at 1301 Washington Street. Most of the floors below have been converted into apartments. The big building in the distance is the WPA-era former Federal Post Office and Courthouse. For many years, Vicksburg District of the Corps of Engineers occupied part of the building. It has been empty for about 10 years and may be redeveloped. The roof in the foreground is St. Paul Catholic Church. The original St. Paul was damaged in the 1953 tornado, and this modern building replaced it.

This is the view from 10 South looking southwest towards the Yazoo Canal. The canal joins the Mississippi River in the distance. The parking garage in the right center was built in the 1970s during the "redevelopment" fad, when tearing down historic architecture and replacing it with parking facilities was assumed to be the pathway to revitalizing urban downtowns.

The Yazoo Canal runs north to the Port of Vicksburg. The road in the center is North Washington Street, which used to be US 61. Now, the official 61 bypasses Vicksburg east of the city. I used an orange filter on the three frames from 10 South to emphasize the cloud texture.

The church at 906 Yazoo Street has been abandoned for several years. The spray paint numbers mean the city engineer has condemned the structure.

Here is the same church in 1996, when it was still active. This is a 35mm Agfa Scala film frame, taken with a Leica M3 camera.

2511 Cedar Street is a condemned cottage. It is a pity; this was probably a rather nice house decades ago.

The last two frames on this roll of film are from Jackson. This is the Canadian National railroad yard photographed from the Woodrow Wilson Avenue overpass. There is a sidewalk on both sides, so you can safely stand away from the traffic. These are hand-held with a yellow filter, with exposure of 1/250 sec. at f/5.6⁵. The amount of detail in these Tri-X frames is impressive, especially if you consider that Kodak introduced the 120 film format for their Brownie No. 2 camera in 1901. The lessons of this roll: the Fuji works correctly, but the frames are a bit too harsh and contrasty for my tastes. If we had overcast gloom, like Scotland, this would be perfect. The Clayton F76+ developer that North Coast Photographic uses does not seem quite right, so I will go back to developing future rolls myself in Kodak's HC110 developer.