From the Archives: Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1990 with 4×5" Film

Vicksburg in the 1990s offered so many interesting photographic topics. It still looked like an "old" town, with small shops, hand-lettered signs, and buildings that stepped out of the early 20th century. It changed and slightly modernized in the decades that followed, so I am eternally grateful that I made the effort to get out and about with my camera way back when. 

Here are some 1990 examples made on 4×5" film, some from my wood Japanese Tachihara camera and others from a Burke & James (an old-time camera manufacturer from Chicago). 

Reverend Dennis with a visitor, 1990 (90mm ƒ/6.8 Wollensak Raptar lens)

Margaret's Gro on North Washington Street was a folk art cultural icon for over 35 years. Reverend Herman D. Dennis married Margaret in 1979 and slowly transformed her store on North Washington Street into his Temple to the Lord. He told me he learned his brick skills from German prisoners of war who he guarded in World War II. Many of his foreign visitors were German tourists. After Margaret and Dennis passed away, the art work deteriorated and vandals stole pieces. The Mississippi Folk Art  Foundation has preserved some of the materials in a warehouse.

Loading dock for logs, Yazoo Canal (Kodak Tri-X film, 75mm ƒ/8 Super-Angulon lens, yellow filter)

Alley behind Washington Street buildings (Turner-Reich Triple Convertible lens at 8½ inch) 

North Washington Street view south (Turner-Reich Triple Convertible lens at 20 inch)

The grassy field in the foreground had railroad tracks under the debris. At one time, passenger trains came to these platforms.

Openwood Street garage (Tri-X film, 75mm ƒ/8 Super Angulon lens) 

Kansas City Southern rail yard and Levee Street, view south to the Fairground Street Bridge (Turner-Reich Triple Convertible lens at 20 inch)

The Kansas City Southern rail yard occupied a flat zone below the Vicksburg bluffs and just east of the Yazoo Canal. A rail yard had been in this area since before the Civil War. Unlike rail yards in big cities, this one had no fences, so one could take interesting pictures. The Fairground Street Bridge in the distance in the photograph above was open when I took the pictures in 1990, but it has been condemned and closed for over two decades. As usual: fate unknown despite its historic status.

Tank farm, Fairground Street (75mm ƒ/8 Super-Angulon lens)

This tank farm was located at the western end of Fairground Street. It was unused for decades. I remember climbing one of the stairs to the top of a tank, and strong petroleum fumes swirled about. I am amazed that there was never a fire. 

Hangar 3 (demolished in 2012) at the Waterways Experiment Station 

The Waterways Experiment Station acquired surplus steel hangars in the late 1940s. Some sheltered  hydraulic physical models of waterways and harbors. Hangar 3 in the photo above came down in 2012. Hangar 4 was demolished to make space for the new headquarters building.  

Steam Laundry (90mm ƒ/6.8 Wollensak Raptar lens)

Waiting for a load (Kodak Tri-X Prof 320, Caltar IIN 180mm ƒ/5.6 lens, 1 sec ƒ/16)

The Vicksburg steam laundry on Grove Street was a fixture of the city in the early 20th century. Some old-timers told me that mid-century, many Vicksburg families never laundered any clothing at home - it all went out commercially. This laundry closed before I moved to town in 1985. 

Before this building was converted into a laundry, it was housed the first industrial-scale Coca Cola Bottling plant. This was not the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum on Washington Street. The Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation owns that building and runs the very interesting museum. 

In the 1940s or 1950s, Coca Cola Corporation built a new bottling plant on south Washington Street. An antique store now occupies part of this newer facility. 

In 1992, the Grove Street laundry/bottling plant suffered a catastrophic fire. The rumor at the time is that a developer found asbestos and torched the building rather than renovate it. That is not an unfamiliar story in Vicksburg. I have negatives from immediately after the fire (to scan some day....).

This ends our short 1990 tour of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Thanks for riding along.

Continuing Decline, Johnson Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Red outline shows Johnson Street (from ArcGIS Online) 

Johnson Street is one of many semi-hidden narrow Vicksburg roads whose location was dictated by the area's complicated loess topography. Many roads followed the crest of ridges. Johnson Street follows a ridge that sweeps downhill from South Washington Street (just north of Lee Street) into the valley that is now occupied by the Vicksburg High School ball fields. Many people probably never go down Johnson unless they specifically planned to see a resident there or possibly turned in by accident.

Twenty years ago, many of the houses along Johnson were occupied. But one by one, they were abandoned or the city condemned them because of dangerous or unsanitary conditions. Then the city razed the buildings. Here are photographs of the remaining houses in April of 2023.  

This is the site of the former 748 Johnson Street after the city demolished it. A bulldozer graded the dirt down the hill. Contractors do this work. According to a 2020 article in The Vicksburg Post, it cost the city about $25,000 to raze a simple wooden house and clear the land of debris.  

728 Johnson Street (Kodak Ektar 100 film, Pentax Spotmatic F camera, 28mm SMC Takumar lens)

728 Johnson Street

This little mid-century house at 728 had a serious gullying problem below the front right corner of the foundation. The gully served as a convenient trash dump. I looked in the door and a homeless guy was sleeping in one of the bedrooms. He and some other guys called this place home. 

733 Johnson Street (28mm SMC Takumar lens)

733 Johnson Street (28mm SMC Takumar lens)

Parlor of 733 Johnson Street (35mm Super-Takumar lens braced on a window ledge)

No. 733 was a typical Vicksburg house where the front door was approximately at street level while the back projected out over the gully, supported by wood pilings. Hundreds of houses like this were built early in the 20th century, and they survived for decades despite their precarious supports. Once the house is abandoned or condemned, the lot cannot be redeveloped.

Downhill side of 733 Johnson Street

This is the gully (valley) just north of Johnson Street. This looks wild and impassible, but deer, raccoons, and possums wander these wooded spaces throughout the city. Snakes do, too.

735 Johnson Street (28mm SMC Takumar lens)

This is another modest mid-century house. I assume it was built on a lot once occupied by an older early-20th century cottage. The back was perched over the valley like other houses on Johnson Street.

Church bus, Holly Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 746 Johnson Street

754 Johnson Street (50mm Hasselblad lens)

This ends out short walk on Johnson Street. All these houses have been demolished since I took these photographs. Slowly but surely, Vicksburg's older neighborhoods are becoming less densely populated as these older houses are torn down.

The 2023 photographs are from Kodak Ektar 100 film from my new/old Pentax Spotmatic F camera.

Another Random Walk around Vicksburg, Mississippi (2021-2023)

Downtown

In the last article, I looked at houses along South Washington Street. Let's take a semi-random walk in the southern part of Vicksburg plus one view downtown and see what interesting photons passed through my camera lens and into the film emulsion. Most of these frames will also be from color negative film, mostly Kodak Ektar 100. Please click any picture to see more details.

Downtown Vicksburg from China Street (Royal Gold 25 film, Leica M2, 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens)

As of 2023, The Vicksburg apartments are being renovated. Residents had to move to other accomodations around town. I hope this continues a downtown revival. The brick building in the left is the long-unused Junius Ward Johnson YMCA. It has been empty for at least 20 years. 

South Washington Street Area

View west towards the Mississippi River from Washington Street (Hasselblad, 80mm ƒ/2.8 lens)

This the view west to the Mississippi River (the shiny water at the horizon). The Yazoo canal is out of sight just beyond the water tower. The water tower is a remnant of the cotton compress, of which very little remains now. With an amazing view like this, in most cities, a neighborhood like this would have gentrified. This one is still a mess.

Washington Street view north near Bowman Street

Tri-State Tire, 2209 Washington Street

This unusual building with decorated arches was once an ice company. Then, in the 1960s, it was the Seale-Lily ice cream store. Mr. Christ bought it in the 1970s and converted the building into a tire business. His daughter, Susan Christ, runs the business now and provides courteous and efficient service. I wrote about Tri-State in 2018. 

1009 (?) Bowman Street

1007 and 1009 Bowman Street

Turn right from Washington Street onto Bowman Street. Some of the housing stock is seriously degraded. 

Magnolia School, Bowman Street

The former Magnolia School has been unused since at least the mid-1980s. Former windows were bricked in decades ago. From the 1920s to the 1950s, this was one of the most progressive schools for African-American students. J.G.H. Bowman, the principle of Magnolia Avenue High School, was highly respected for his dedication and accomplishments in running the school. The street is now named after him. 

807 Speed Street

It looks like the occupants ran out of blue paint. Speed Street is pretty rough.

Drummond Street Area

Pink house, 2721 Green Street

Ducks in a row, 911 Bowmar Avenue 

2815 Drummond Street

This four-unit apartment has been empty for at least five years. The front porch is sagging. As so often with these older houses, status unknown.

Johnny's truck, Candee Street

This ends our short walk around Vicksburg. I took the 2023 photographs with Kodak Ektar 100 film using my new Pentax Spotmatic F camera and 50mm ƒ/1.4 or 55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lenses. Watch for more Vicksburg photographs soon. Thanks for coming along!

Houses of South Washington Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi

 I like the downtowns of older American cities, where homes were once built with care and a degree of individualism. Over the decades, the neighborhoods have mellowed, trees have become mature, and the homes changed to reflect their owners or tenants. You also see neglect, decay, and, sometimes, some revitalization. South Washington Street in Vicksburg shows all these elements, although one sees very little revitalization. I have waited for Vicksburg to gentrify for 30+ years, but there is almost no evidence of this happening. This is a real shame considering its rich architectural abundance and historical heritage. 

I have driven and bicycled along Washington Street many times but did not slow down to examine the houses. Here is a walk from south to north, starting where Lee Street comes in from the east above the Vicksburg High School ball fields. The addresses will count down as we progress north. Most of the photographs are from April of 2023. Click any picture to see more details.

Gator Stadium, Vicksburg High School, Lee Street

Let's start with the newly rebuilt and expanded Gator Stadium on Lee Street. The city did a nice job upgrading the fields and stands. There is a lot of pride in the ball teams. Everyone likes gators.

3507 Washington St. with original windows and stucco exterior

Vicksburg has a surprising number of houses with stucco exterior. Stucco was air tight, fire resistant, and accepted paint well. But the stucco was expensive to construct and challenging to repaint. I have seen stucco buildings being demolished and noted that the base of the walls was much thicker that the top near the rafters.

3501 Washington St.

The wide awnings were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. This cottage is also stucco-walled. It has a much simpler architecture than the green house to the south.

 

Time for a smoothie at 3407 Washington St.

Home with aluminum siding, 3113 Washington St.

Home with asbestos shingles (pre-1940s?), 3111 Washington St.

This little house has two original windows with multiple mullions. And it is clad with asbestos shingles. These were a durable and fireproof building material, popular in the mid-20th century. But mining and production was deadly for the workers.

3023 Washington St.

This cheerful little Craftsman cottage is freshly repaired and restored. It has its original wood siding and double-hung sash windows.  

Asbestos shingles, 3019 Washington St.

This house has diamond-shaped asbestos shingles above the porch. The vent just under the eaves may had been for an attic fan. The fence is nasty, a typical retrofit.

3011 Washington St.

3005 Washington St.

This little house was a dentist's office for some time, but it was neglected and unused when I took this photograph.  

Key Real Estate, 2903 Washington St.

2745 Washington St.

This cheerful cottage at 2745 has its asbestos shingle cladding and original windows. Because of Vicksburg's complicated terrain, many houses like this were perched above the street and had a flight of steps up to the front door. In other cases, the backs of the houses projected over gullies and were supported on wooden posts. I showed examples of this on Johnson Street. 

Victorian house, 2519 Washington St.

This is a handsome Victorian-era house. It has a modern roof, but the ornate vent/tower has been saved. The shingles above the bay window are original. These are hard to paint because of the many small surfaces that need scraping.

Shotgun house, 2433 Washington St.

Partly restored, 2427 Washington St. (Hasselblad 80mm lens)

Brick house, 2405 Washington St.

This was a nice late-1800s brick house with a steep roof. Some of the wall on the front appears to have been replaced. The roof is early 20th century asbestos with a recent coating of white roof mastic (plastic). The original roof was likely wood shingle. 

Coal sparks from chimneys and coal locomotives often caused fires when embers fell onto wood roofs. When asbestos shingles were developed in the 1920s, they immediately became popular for retrofitting old houses and for new construction. The shingles were  fireproof, lighter than stucco or brick, and quick and easy to install. On a roof, they did not weight more than the wood shakes, in contrast to slate or clay tile, which required a more robust frame. Therefore, many older houses were retrofitted with asbestos roofing. My 1925 garage had asbestos shingles on the sides and the roof, even though the main house was brick.

Commercial building, 2401 Washington St.

This former commercial building is at the corner of Washington and Speed Streets. It has been restored, possibly with an apartment in the second floor. At one time, a family probably operated a business on the ground floor and lived above. In many US cities, misguided zoning regulations made it illegal for residences to coincide with commercial businesses. As a result, business owners moved away and the structure of close-knit communities degraded.

2299 Washington St.

Cheerful blue paint, but it needs a bit of a touch-up. The low iron fence is possibly late 1800s.

2213 Washington St.

This ends our short walk along south Washington Street to look at some of the historical homes. I took most of these pictures with my Pentax Spotmatic F camera and 50mm ƒ/1.4 or 55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lenses, hand-held, using Kodak Ektar 100 film. I scanned the negatives with a 35mm Plustek 7600i film scanner. The color profile in the Silverfast software is not quite right. However, the dilemma with color photography is how can you remember what was the "correct" color weeks or months later? Does it matter?  

I have photographed along Washington Street before. You can type "Washington" or "Vicksburg" in the search box to see older articles. Thank you all for walking with me. Next: more Vicksburg in other areas.