Partial Reuse: Cotton Mills of Tupelo, Mississippi (B&W film)

Former Knitting Mill, S. Green St., Tupelo, Mississippi

Knitting Mill from S. Spring St., Tupelo

Dear Readers, I am continuing my ongoing exploration of towns in Mississippi with this short visit to Tupelo.

Tupelo is a city in northeast Mississippi just off the Natchez Trace Parkway. In the early 20th century, the city was a major cotton processing center, as demonstrated by huge brick mills. They are now mostly unused but may have future life as apartments, stores, or wedding/party venues. (I am specifically not using the term "repurposing," which is trendy today.)

These postcards from the Cooper Postcard Collection at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History give you an idea of the industrial power of cotton processing early in the 20th century.

I stayed in Tupelo in May of 2018 and spent a morning exploring.

The Tupelo Cotton Mill (300 Elliott Street) formerly housed a wholesale supplier but now is being used as an event venue. I could not go in but walked around the hulking building.

A shed across the parking lot housed a serious coffee roaster.

The Gravlee Lumber Company on Spring Street has closed. I can't tell if this part of town is being revitalized or not.

Some interesting old industrial equipment was on the lot next to Gravlee Lumber.

Oh oh, Elvis is back. Maybe he never left. After all, he was born here in Tupelo.

The BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and KCS (Kansas City Southern) cross lines at an interesting X-crossing just east of Spring Street.

For now, that is all. Tupelo warrants a return for some more exploring. The rectangle black and white photographs are from 35mm Fuji Acros 100 film in my wife's 1971 Pentax Spotmatic camera with various Pentax Takumar lenses. The two square frames are from Ilford Delta 100 film exposed with my Rolleiflex 3.5E medium format camera with its fabulous 75mm ƒ/3.5 Schneider Xenotar lens.

Fate still unknown, the Carnation Milk Plant, Tupelo, Mississippi

The former Carnation Milk evaporated milk plant sits just south of downtown Tupelo off Carnation Street (where else?).

Postcard, unknown date, title "Carnation Plant looking west, Tupelo, Miss. [graphic]", from the Cooper Postcard Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History

The 36,000-square-foot plant opened in 1927. According to the Daily Journal,

It opened Saturday, May 14, 1927. Tupelo threw an unprecedented celebratory parade and party, attended by some 15,000 to 20,000 people. It was a big day; it was a historic day. 

For nearly all of the next 45 years, the Carnation Plant lived up to expectations. The dairy industry flourished in Northeast Mississippi. Thousands of dairy farmers enjoyed consistent income, even through the Great Depression. Two and a half generations of workers made the Carnation Plant a part of their memorable and proud careers. The aging plant finally closed its doors in 1972.

But because of its solid, well-built construction, the old building has been considered for many other uses since it was shuttered 39 years ago – a police department and jail, city offices and even a history museum.

There have been numerous studies and plans drawn up to move the Oren Dunn Museum into this once-proud but now-lonely building. Currently, however, those plans simply gather age and dust – just like the Carnation Plant itself. For now, it is remembered only for what it once was, not for what it could be again. The once-shining example of hope and promise in Tupelo 80 years ago simply grows old, both in reality and in all of our Southern Memories.

The nomination for the National Register of Historic Places states that the plant closed in 1965.

As of 2018, the old factory is closed and unused. The Oren Dunn City Museum proposed to refurbish and use the plant, but the cost would have been $ millions, and in 2012, the museum abandoned plans to move its collection to the factory. The site has lost some of its outbuildings. Despite being on the National Register of Historic Places, city workers demolished a storage building and the manager's office.

One sunny afternoon in May, I looked around briefly. The building was secured, or at least there was no obvious access.

Some of the old architectural elements were photogenic. These frames are from a Motorola Moto G5 phone, but one day I need to return with a film camera.