Return to Rodney - Semi-Deserted Mississippi River Town

Rodney, Mississippi, is a semi-abandoned town in Jefferson County, Mississippi, about 30 miles north of Natchez. It was once a thriving river town, but the river changed its course in the early 20th century, and the town declined rapidly. According to Wikipedia, the Rodney Center Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

One way to reach Rodney is to drive through Alcorn State University - literally through campus - and take the back gate on the west side of campus to Rodney Drive.  It is gravel much of the way and winds through loess hills and woods.  Soon you reach the remains of town.

Mt. Zion No.1 Baptist Church, Rodney

Entry hall, Mt. Zion No. 1 Church

As you enter town, the elegantly simple Mt. Zion No. 1 Baptist Church is ahead of you one block.  It is open via the front door and looks like it had some tender loving care a few years ago.  But rain and decay are taking their toll.

Rodney looking east from Mt. Zion No. 1 church

Look east  towards the town and you see some fields that may occasionally be mowed and a few deserted buildings.

On the right when looking out of the Mt. Zion church is an old store, a substantial brick building, but now decaying badly.

At the corner of Rodney and Muddy Bayou Roads sits the old Brumfield Grocery. In 1985, it must have only recently closed because it had a fairly modern gasoline pump out front.  Today, it has some fencing to keep out visitors or vandals.

At the north side of Rodney Road is an old house with a well.  The structure is still standing but will not be for long.

Two more abandoned farms are on the south side of the street (the same side as Brumfield Grocery). One is almost engulfed with vines. Oddly, just a short distance away is an active farm with some handsome cows, so Rodney does still have residents.

Rodney Masonic Lodge (Kodachrome slide).

Rodney Masonic Lodge, Rodney, Mississippi, 1985 (Kodachrome slide).

A short distance north on Muddy Bayou Road is the old Masonic Lodge. In 1985, it still had a lodge sign, but that must have been stolen decades ago.

Old Rodney Presbyterian Church, Muddy Bayou Road 

The Old Rodney Presbyterian Church is one of the most commonly-photographed buildings in town. Preservation groups are trying to maintain or restore it, but am not sure of the status.

Continue north on Muddy Bayou Road, and there are more abandoned houses.

Hunters like Rodney. One hunting camp is the old railroad car. Another occupies an old house. I was there on New Year's Eve, and the camps had occupants ready for a good party. We saw a couple of well-dressed city ladies in high-end SUVs and high heels come into town - I think they were hunting (but not for deer).

On the way back to Port Gibson, take the Old Rodney-Port Gibson Road, cut deep into the bluffs in some sections. Rodney is a fun place to visit. Go in winter, before the jungle and poison ivy takes over. For more information, The Southern Lagniappe blog has an nice 3-part article on a 2011 visit to Rodney.

1980s photographs taken with Leica cameras on Kodachrome film. The 2013 photographs were taken with Fuji X-E1 and Panasonic G3 digital cameras.

Hidden Courtyards of Patan, Nepal

Patan is one of the three independent kingdoms that once flourished in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal (the others being Kathmandu and Bhaktapur). Urban sprawl now encompasses much of the valley, but Patan still feels distinct and features unique architecture and cultural institutions. The historic name is "Lalitpur," or City of Beauty. According to The Rough Guide's Nepal, legend credits Patan's founding to King Arideva in 299 AD. By the seventh century, Patan had emerged as the artistic and cultural center of Nepal and a large expanse of the Himalaya. It remained a sovereign state until 1769, when Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley and chose Kathmandu as his unified capital. In many ways, the historic core is frozen in time as it was in 1769. Therefore, Patan is an architectural gem well worth a visit.

The tourist map shows Patan's location south of Kathmandu City. It is a short taxi ride there, but, depending on traffic, it may be rather time-consuming. Walking would be unpleasant with the constant cacophony of horns and stench of exhaust. Odd note: the tuk-tuks, that formerly belched terrible 2-stroke exhaust fumes, are now electric!! The electric motors and batteries were installed as a simple upgrade via a program funded by US Aid and the Asian Development Bank. The tuk-tuks retained their original transmissions, and the motors were connected to 2nd. gear. The photograph shows the normal status of a tuk-tuk: packed with customers.

Most tour groups alight from their taxis or buses in front of the historic Durbar Square, where the palace and many of the temples are located. This is a UNESCO Heritage Site. We tourists have to pay an admission fee, and there is another admission into the Palace.

In this article, I want to concentrate on streets and alleys that tourists might overlook.

Patan, like the rest of Kathmandu, is a full of tiny shops selling all sorts of goods. You can buy fabrics, pots and pans, clothing, incense, magazines, food, singing bowls, religious goods, brassware, cosmetics, and more.

Remember the Ladies of Nepal? This must be where they buy their underwear.

Once you get off the main thoroughfares, the narrow alleys are shaded and private, often only wide enough for motorbikes.

But wait, there is a hidden side to Patan: many of the houses and apartments were built around a courtyard that is accessible via narrow arched passageways. The courtyards feature a well that provided drinking water for hundreds of years, and many are still in use. I was amazed that the residents aren't using piped municipal water.

There is another world in these courtyards. Some are dingy, others joyful and full of life.

In some, individuals sit and watch the scene. In others, children play ball. The people I met were very friendly and probably wondered, "What is this odd tourist doing here? Did he lose his way to the palace or the toilet?"

Some of the houses are really old, mid-1800s I guess. Often they are intermixed with 20th century flats. The next serious earthquake will be real trouble here. Some of the old bricks had the swastika symbol baked into the surface. According to Wikipedia, the symbol was widely used in Indian religions, specifically in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, as a tantric symbol to evoke 'shakti' or the sacred symbol of good luck.

The sunnier courtyards often had piles of grain with ladies carefully tending it. No mice and rats? Maybe the cat or snake population takes care of the vermin. Regardless, it's a fascinating place to explore. Highly recommended.

I took these photographs with a Panasonic G1 micro four-thirds (µ4/3) digital camera with 9-18 mm Olympus or 14-45 mm Lumix lenses, 22 October 2011.