Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi

Dear Readers,

Let us return to the South with a series of Jackson and Vicksburg articles. Then we will jump back west to the Pacific Northwest and take a few stops further afield. Afterwards, I want to go through some of the family archives from various locations.

Jackson, Mississippi

Central Jackson, Mississippi, from Google Maps. Greenwood Cemetery is at the red marker.

Greenwood Cemetery is a peaceful and restful green space in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. According to the Greenwood Cemetery Association,

The members of the Greenwood Cemetery Association welcome you to historic Greenwood Cemetery. This cemetery was established by an act of the Mississippi State Legislature which was approved January 1, 1823. It has grown from the original six acres to its present twenty-two acres.

Greenwood Cemetery is downtown Jackson's largest green space. Towering oaks, magnolias, crepe myrtles, and cedars shade portions of the grounds and the sunny areas boast large collections of antique bulbs and ever blooming, own-root roses. Camellia bushes are scattered throughout the cemetery, and the wisteria is breathtaking in early May. There is something blooming every month of the year. The natural landscape and the beautiful monuments make it a calm and serene spot adjacent to the bustle of downtown.

Until the end of the 19th century, all residents of Jackson could be buried in Greenwood Cemetery and many were. The early records are incomplete and work continues on identifying those buried. 

I had driven by the cemetery many times but never stopped to walk inside. In early 2023, I finally looked around. 

Northeast part of Greenwood (Kodak Plus-X film, Leica IIIC camera, 50mm ƒ/1.8 Canon lens)

The cemetery was a bit overgrown. I recall a call for volunteers to clean brush and grass. All in all, it was not as interesting as cemeteries in south Louisiana, where many of the monuments are ornate and almost Baroque.

Just west of the cemetery is the historic Farish Street neighborhood. During the post-World War II economic boom, this was a thriving cultural and business hub for the African American community. After the 1970s, the neighborhood decayed severely. I remember 1990s attempts to encourage a comeback, but those efforts did not generate much (or any) reinvestment. This Mississippi Today article outlines the decades of disappointment, political infighting, and missteps in the attempts to revive the district. Preservation in Mississippi also posted some articles on Farish Street. 

I have posted pictures from the Farish Street area before. Here are more photographs from my archives from Lamar, Cohea, and Monument Streets, all immediately west of Greenwood Cemetery.

998 North Lamar Street (TMax 100 film, Olympus Trip 35 camera)

1107 North Lamar Street

Lamar Street runs north-south just west of the cemetery. Some (much) of the housing stock is seriously deteriorated. 

East Cohea Street view west

Empty lots in this area mean that deteriorated or abandoned houses have been razed. This is a significant cost for the city. It also means that the property no longer generates tax revenue. 

Cohea view east from near North Mill Street (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera) 

Duplex at 146 Cohea Street

Duplex 147-149 Cohea Street

Duplex 153 Cohea Street

These modest duplexes likely once were homes for families who shopped and worked at the stores, restaurants, and jazz clubs on Farish Street. Now they are silent; the happy children are gone. 

Cottage, 155 Cohea Street

Cottage, 328 East Monument Street (no longer extant)

I took these photographs on Kodak Plus-X (2023 frames), TMax 100 (2018), and Panatomic-X (2012) films. 

This has been a quick look at central Jackson near Greenwood Cemetery. For other articles on Jackson, please see:

Jan 2010: Mississippi Basin Model
Jan 2010: Hawkins Field
Jan 2010: Naval reserve Center
Feb 2010: Hinds County Armory
Nov 2010: Jackson Municipal Library
Apr 2013: Hinds County Armory update
May 2013: Oil Mill
May 2013: Mill Street corner store
Apr 2015: Lock business, Pascagoula St.
May 2015: Mill Street
Jun 2015: West Capital Street
Jun 2015: Masonic Temple
Nov 2015: Mississippi Basin Model continuing decline
Dec 2015: West Porter Street
Jan 2016: Near the State Capital
Sep 2016: North Mill Street
Jul 2017: Grayson Court
Dec 2017: Old House Depot
Feb 2018: Basin Model update
May 2018: Fortification Street
April 2019: Woodrow Wilson Ave.
Aug 2019: Bailey Avenue restaurant

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.

Steel Lustron Houses in Indiana - Guest photographs by Jim Grey

My Indiana friend, Jim Grey, writes Down the Road, an interesting blog on photography and philosophical topics. He explores the byroads and historical neighborhoods of Indiana. When he saw my September article on the Lustron houses in Jackson and Albany, he said he knew of some examples in Indiana and generously took some photographs for me. The houses below are from the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis.

Jim took these photographs on Kodak TMax 100 film using a trusty Pentax Spotmatic II camera and the 50mm ƒ/1.4 Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lens (one of the legendary lenses from the 1970s).

1908 Kessler Boulevard East Drive

2079 Broad Ripple Avenue

5638 Indianola Avenue

6466 Central Avenue

Oops, this roof looks like a major tree limb crashed down on it. Do any replacement steel roof tiles exist?

6435 Riverview Drive

6321 Central Avenue

6212 Central Avenue

Thanks for the photographs Jim! Jim wrote his own article on the Broad Ripple Lustron homes in his blog, Down the Road. 

And as a final treat, an advertising photograph from the heyday of the Lustron era.

Wow, the curtains match the easy chair!! Love the jade green chair. I recall my mom had a dress that looked like that in the late-1950s.

The Mississippi Delta 35: Belzoni

Belzoni is the county seat for Humphreys County, Mississippi. According to Wikipedia, the town was named for Giovanni Battista Belzoni, a 19th-century Italian archaeologist and explorer. How did he end up in the Mississippi Delta? In the 1970s, Belzoni was known as the Catfish Capital of the United States for having a greater percentage of acreage used for catfish production than any other county. I do not know if this is still true, but the city does play up the catfish heritage with statues of smiling catfish at various street corners.

Former catfish factory, Hwy US 49E, Belzoni (Kodak TMax 100 film, Pentax Spotmatic camera, 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Former catfish packing factory, US 49E (Fuji Acros film, Leica IIIC, 5 cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, yellow filter)

Sadly, the big catfish packing plant has been closed for many years. Many jobs must have been lost when it shut.

Farmers' Grain Terminal (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens, yellow filter)

Approaching Belzoni from the south on US 49E, the very impressive Farmers' Grain Terminal complex at 509 Silver City Road dominates the skyline. At some time, these circles were covered with a huge cloth tent and contained corn.

Silver City Rd., Belzoni (Fuji Acros film, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, yellow filter)

Silver City Rd., Belzoni (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens, yellow filter)

Silver City Rd. (Tmax 100 film, Pentax Spotmatic, 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Unused gin, Silver City Road, Belzoni (Tmax 100 film, 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Tamale store (Fuji X-E1 digital file)

Head further into town on Silver City Road and you pass miscellaneous housing, old stores, a closed gin, and an unused silo complex.

W. Jackson St., Belzoni (Fuji Acros film, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, yellow filter)

Liquor store on W. Jackson St. (Fuji Acros film, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, yellow filter)

E. Jackson St., Belzoni (Fuji Acros film, Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens, yellow filter)

Jackson Street runs E-W through town and may be the traditional "main drag."

Western Auto, East Jackson Street (Moto G5 digital file)

I was pleased that many of the shops are open and conducting some sort of business. There is even a Western Auto still open. I have not seen a Western Auto in a least a decade. According to Wikipedia,

Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories. It operated approximately 1200 stores across the United States. It was started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine and Don Abnor Davis. Pepperdine later founded Pepperdine University. Western Auto was bought by Beneficial Corporation in 1961; Western Auto's management led a leveraged buyout in 1985, leading three years later to a sale to Sears. Sears sold most of the company to Advance Auto Parts in 1998, and by 2003, the resulting merger had led to the end of the Western Auto brand and its product distribution network.

One of the founders also founded Pepperdine University? Impressive.

Renee's Beauty Supply, 120 E. Jackson St., Belzoni (Tmax 100 film, Pentax Spotmatic, 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

The charming proprietor of Renee's Beauty Supply generously let me take a picture of the healthy beauties outside of her store. I was glad to see on my 2020 visit that Renee's is still open and operating, despite the slowdown from the virus.

Crescent Theater, Hayden Street, Belzoni

The Cresent Theatre on Hayden Street is closed and may be for sale. I was surprised to find a photograph in the Library of Congress archives taken in 1939 by Marion Post Wolcott of the very same side stairway on the Crescent. In the segregated era, it was common for African American patrons to be seated in the balcony. Notice the sign on the narrow door that states "White Men Only."

Segregated movie house, October 1939, by Marion Post Wolcott (Image from the United States Library of Congress Prints and photographs division, digital ID ppmsca.12888)

This has been our short tour of Belzoni, Mississippi. It is an interesting place and worth a visit if you are in the central Mississippi Delta. Thank you for coming along this short trip.

Small Towns in Mississippi: Holly Springs

Holly Springs is the county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi. It is near the border with southern Tennessee and is southeast of Memphis. It is in the hill country east of the Mississippi Delta, but its early history was intertwined with cotton cultivation and processing.

Holly Springs Depot, from Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

The post card from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History shows cotton bales stacked near the railroad depot.

The depot, with its distinctive towers is still standing and in good condition. I was there late in the day and the building was empty; I am not sure who uses it. The 1800s brick shed still has railroad equipment in and around it.

Mississippi Industrial College, from Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi department of Archives and History

For years, I had wanted to visit Holly Springs to see the remains of the Mississippi Industrial College. According to Hill Country History:

Mississippi Industrial College was an historically black college founded in 1905 by the Mississippi Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church under the leadership of Bishop Elias Cottrell (1855-1937).  Bishop Cottrell’s goal was to create a college for African Americans and provide them with liberal arts education and industrial training. Mississippi Industrial College’s campus was located on a 120 acre lot, across the street from Rust College, a competing historically black liberal arts school.

Classes began at the College in January of 1906, and in May the school already had over 200 students.  By 1908 Mississippi Industrial College had 450 students.  Mississippi Industrial College was one of the most important black colleges in Mississippi for many decades, until the end of segregation resulted in increasingly low student populations. The college closed in 1982 and remained empty.  During the 1990s, the Holly Springs Police Department and other businesses moved into the newer of the buildings, but they eventually abandoned the property as well.

The once-handsome buildings at the College have been deteriorating for three decades. One of the more modern structures housed the police department and some other city offices for a few years, but I think all campus buildings are empty now.

Preservation Mississippi wrote about the deterioration of the Carnegie Auditorium in 2010. Consider, at one time, the auditorium could seat 1000 people. In a small college in a rural area! The builders had lofty ambitions that they could bring the arts and culture to their students and members of the surrounding community. As of 2018, the building is structurally unsound and dangerous. (The color image above is a digital file.)

Sadly, there is not much left to explore at the site. The historic buildings are unsafe. Notice the stone slab steps.

On Rte 7, we came across an old-fashioned Texaco station, complete with its horizontal stripes on the roof above the pumps. Someone is using the property as a repair shop and storage depot for old trucks.

That is all for Holly Springs. The town was not too inspiring photographically. It suffers from serious poverty and decay. And the historic college is is very poor condition. The black and white photographs are from Kodak TMax 100 film, exposed at EI=80 and developed in Xtol developer. I used my wife's 1971 Pentax Spotmatic camera and scanned the negatives with a Plustek 7600i film scanner.