The Wide View in Vicksburg in Color (XPan 06)

Kodak Portra 160 film

I had three rolls of Kodak Portra 160 film in the freezer. It was expired but had been cold stored since 2013. I thought it would be useful to try a color film in the Hasselblad XPan because of the ability to place a colorful central object as the focal point of a panoramic frame. Below are examples from semi-random trips in and around Vicksburg. Please click any frame to see details at 2400 pixels wide. All comments welcome.

Good stuff, Mt. Alban Road (30mm ƒ/5.6 lens)

Oh, no, it's the car junk yard on Mount Alban Road that I periodically impose on you. I liked the red truck this time. And the extra wide coverage shows the unending supply of tires and junk. 

Former Mercy Hospital, McCauley Drive (30mm lens)

Mercy Hospital (30mm vertical)

The Vicksburg Sisters of Mercy opened Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in 1957. At that time, it was a state-of-the art medical facility for the post-war era. In the 1950s, this was the "white" hospital. African-Americans used Kuhn Memorial (Charity) Hospital a short distance away. 

Later known as Parkview Hospital, Mercy closed permanently in February of 2002. A 2012 article in Preservation in Mississippi includs dozens of comments from former patients and employees. The building suffers from black mold, asbestos, leaks, vandalism, and myriad other issues. It will never be used again.

Mississippi still suffers from great disparities in health care and ranks last in almost every health outcome among US states.* White politicians in Jackson refusing to extend Medicaid and underfunding public health have perpetuated this disparity.

New Year clean-up, Candee Street. Where is Italy? (45mm lens)

More New Year clean-up (45mm lens).

Just after New Years is a good time to clean out furniture, toys, and posters showing maps of Italy. Good stuff.

View west from Drummond Street near Bowmar Avenue (45mm lens)

Bridge over Stouts Bayou at Letitia Street (45mm)

Asam Hotel, Washington Street (45mm lens at ƒ/11, tripod-mounted)

This and other motels once provided a view over the Mississippi River. Most became low-end temporary housing over the years. A new operator has bought or leased this unit and recently painted it. It was formerly the Dixiana Inn.

 

Sycamore Avenue, view south (45mm lens at ƒ/11)

Free furniture, Sycamore Avenue (30mm lens at ƒ/11)

Sycamore Avenue is one of Vicksburg's semi-hidden streets, seldom used and with only one house left on the hillside. When house lots were originally platted, innovative builders stuck houses on stilts just about anywhere where they could fit them. Over the decades many have burned, collapsed, or been torn down. I wonder when the City will abandon Sycamore Avenue? I cannot tell if it serves any purpose now.

Thank you for reading. We will see south Vicksburg next time.

* From the Mississippi State Department of Health: 

  Mississippi ranks last, or close to last, in almost every leading health outcome. In Mississippi and nationwide, these health disparities are significantly worse for those who have systematically faced obstacles to health due to their socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, geographic location, and other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.

The result is a disproportionate burden of disease and illness that is borne by racial and ethnic minority populations and the rural and urban poor. Health disparities not only affect the groups facing health inequities, but limit overall improvements in quality of care, the health status for the broader population, and results in unnecessary costs.

Historic Bridge over Judd Bayou, Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana

Tensas National Wildlife Refuge is a magical place of forest, bayous, lakes, and wetlands. The last verifiable sighting of the Ivory-billed woodpecker was 1944 in these forests. Some diligent birders are still looking for the ivory-billed here, although I think they will have more success in the remote and rugged mountain forests in Cuba. The Louisiana Digital Library has photographs of the woodpecker and the forests when they were still largely pristine.

During the 2020 Audubon Christmas bird count, one birder volunteered to explore the woods along Judd Bayou. I had never been to that area and decided to check the access in mid-December. To reach the bayou, you take Charles Brown Road off US 80 just east of Waverly and follow it south over I-20. It passes farms and then enters the forest at the boundary of Tensas NWR. Abruptly, you are in a forest from another time. Where is the dinosaur? The road runs parallel to the Tensas River along its west bank. It ends at an old-fashioned riveted steel girder bridge with a sign that cars are not allowed to cross. 

Judd Bayou bridge (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

The late afternoon light was perfect, and I took a frame on the long-discontinued, ultra high resolution Kodak Ektar 25 film. Click the picture to expand to 2400 pixels wide to see details.

Bridge details from the Louisiana Department of Transport:

• Parish: Madison
• Bridge Configuration: Through truss Pratt truss
• Bridge name: (none)
• Facility carried and feature crossed: OLD HWY 80 over JUDD BAYOU
• Year built: 1908
• Owner: Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, Federal ownership

The LADOT information about Hwy 80 is almost surely incorrect because 80 ran E-W through north Louisiana, approximately following the main railroad line. I doubt it made a big swing south into this forested region, which was formerly known as the Singer Tract (owned by the Singer Sewing Machine company).  

A 4-wheeler track may lead south from the bridge, eventually connecting to Quebec Road, but I am not sure. I could not go further in my car, but it was a lovely setting, and I did not see any dinosaurs or ivory-billed woodpeckers. Imagine the magnificence of these forests if they had not been logged and destroyed in the 1940s.

Forest near Rainey Lake (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar lens)

Forest off Quebec Road (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar lens)

Here are two examples of the magnificent hardwood bottomland scenery from 2019. 

Farm on Charles Brown Road (GAF Versapan film, Voigtländer Vito BL camera)

Barn on Charles Brown Road

Tensas NWR is a bit out of the way but well worth a diversion to visit. 

Write your Federal representatives to support and expand the National Wildlife Refuge system, as well as National Monuments. Protect the wild lands that we still have; leave a legacy for your descendants. Undo the mismanagement, pillage, corruption, and destruction of our natural environment wrought by the previous administration in Washington.

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Monroe to Ruston, Louisiana (LA-07)

Monroe is the Big City of north central Louisiana. I did not find it very inspiring architecturally, but it is busy, with plenty of commercial activity and lots of traffic. Much of the architecture where US 80 comes through town is strip America of the ugliest nature. I did not spend much time in Monroe and need to explore more in the future. I would like to visit the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum as well as the cypress swamps of Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge (north of the city). Antique Alley in West Monroe (west of the Ouachita River) would also be interesting.

Former car dealer, 2901 US80, Monroe, Louisiana (Kodak Tri-X film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

Yes, it is strip America. Maybe I should do an article on the ugliest strips I can find.

West Prong Young's Bayou from Washington Street, Monroe (Tri-X film)

This bayou must be part of a drainage system for storm water and who knows what other effluent. I wonder if there are any alligators during high water?

Heading west, US 80 runs north of I-20 for a spell then crosses and runs south of I-20. Many of the neighborhoods west of West Monroe are converting into McMansion developments, often gated (American architecture at its finest). But remnants of older farm houses as well as plenty of trailers remain. 

I stopped at this old house in Claiborne. There are likely more like this in between the new developments.

Mount Zion Cemetery, US 80, Calhoun, Louisiana (Fuji X-E1 digital image)

The Mount Zion Cemetery in Calhoun, just north of where 80 crosses I-20, was peaceful and shaded by mighty trees. 

No more food here, Calhoun, Louisiana

The crossing at Interstate 20 consists of truck stops, a Dollar store, and a couple of dead restaurants. Not too inspiring.

US 80 view east, Calhoun, Louisiana

Calhoun is an unincorporated community in Ouachita Parish; a quiet little place. I continued driving west.

Fixer-upper house, US 80, Choudrant, Louisiana (Tri-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm ƒ/3.5 EBC Fujinon lens)

Masonic Hall, Elm Street, Choudrant, Louisiana (Tri-X film)

Choudrant is a village in Lincoln Parish. The village's web page advertises "Louisiana's Front Porch." Here I saw a surprising number of older homes in various states of repair. The former Masonic Hall on Elm Street was intact but am not sure who uses it.

In progress, 123 Allen Street, Choudrant (Tri-X film, Fuji GW690II camera)

Not being repaired, 147 Allen Street, Choudrant

Being dismantled? 153 Allen Street, Choudrant

Choudrant proved to be reasonably interesting. I did not see many people about. 

This was the end of my US 80 exploration on this outing. I continued west towards Ruston, which is a nice college town, hosting Louisiana Tech University and Louisiana Delta Community College. It will be worth a revisit some other day. Thank you for riding along on the Dixie Overland Highway. For background information on US 80 and the Dixie Overland Highway, the Federal Highway Administration has a detailed history. 

The photographs above are a mixture of Kodak Tri-X 400 film exposed with a Hasselblad 501 CM camera, Tri-X from a Fuji GW690II medium format camera, and digital images from a Fuji X-E1 digital camera.

Personal Note.  Dear readers, I hope you were all well and healthy this past year (2020), horrifying as it was regarding the virus, our national incompetence in taking medical precautions seriously, and our continued descent politically and socially. 2021 should be better in almost all respects. Stay strong, explore your world, comfort and support your relatives and loved ones, believe science and data, and stay optimistic. Happy New Year to y'awl!