Memphis, Tennessee Iron Works

 Last Friday while orienting the students to Mound Bayou, I noticed a partial emblem on the iron work design of the Bank of Mound Bayou Building.  Without a specific name, I cannot locate anything on it, yet, as there were several Memphis iron works companies during the time period.  If anyone recognizes the shield, please let me know.

Another detail that had escaped me earlier, was the Jones & Laughlin name on the beam.  Jones & Laughlin was a major steel works company from the 1800s forward.

Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church and Sister Debra prepares ethnic Sunday dinner

One of our young friends from the October workshop invited us to worship at her church this morning after we mentioned wanting to attend church today. It reminded me of when I would attend church with my grandmother back in Profit or Elbert only much more joyous. In that regard, it was like being back in my home church of Potosi Baptist. It was a moment of being met right where my need was--something that never ceases to amaze me even though I know it is possible.

Back at our home for the week, we are in Debra's Soul Food Ethnic Kitchen today. She started cooking yesterday. We are having greens, turnips, turkey necks, pig tails, pork neck bones, boiled rice, pork chops in gravy, candied sweet potatoes, and cornbread. Desert is peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Students commented they they never expected to eat so well this week!

Laundry on Saturday Night

I'm lying here on my elevated air bed too tired to post! We had another early start today but I slept better last night so was more energetic even for a Saturday morning.

After breakfast, Dr. Moore and the graduate students began the asset mapping process. The undergrad students and I photographed and catalogued the contents of the building we were assigned. That took most of the morning.

It had begun a light mist by then and we took a snack break and time to discuss and answer questions. The Mayor and a couple of his friends were smoking ribs for us and the smell was mouth-watering. We headed back to the building, now joined by one of the grad students and accomplished some major clean-up in the hall and two front rooms, plus part of a third room. Supper was supposed to be ready mid-afternoon so we wrapped up and headed back to the facility to shower and eat. Several other of our new friends were there and the Mayor's wife made spaghetti to go with the ribs and chicken. All I can say is yum!

After clean-up, we found the local laundry-the A and A Washing System-I love that name! We needed to wash our clothes from today's clean-up. I love a good visit to a laundry and while we were waiting, told them the story of The Church of the Cleansing Waters in Lottabusha County. We took a few iPhone photos to document the occasion, of course, but since they are not on the iPad, they will have to wait.

After laundry, we made our daily visit to the dollar general where we are so common place now, the cashier finally asked if we were staying there, so we explained our work here this week and what a great time we were having.

It's been much quieter tonight than it was last night and we have free time in the morning so everyone is looking forward to sleeping a little later and relaxing before more work tomorrow afternoon. I will have a lot of exciting pictures to post after getting back home and to regular Internet instead of on the iPad, but I confess to loving this little bit of technology!

Chef Suzassippi Opens Bayah Bistro

There's a lot of buzz tonight in Mound Bay'ah since breakfast this morning at The Delta Skillet. The grand opening tonight at the elgegant Bay'ah Bistro offered a sneak peak at Suzassippi's new Delta Fusion menu.

Chef Suz was joined by Chef Landon of the renowned Cafe de Bayou for a special guest appearance. The evening's menu featured a new addition to the line-up, Bay'ah-infused sweet Delta chicken legs with faithflatbread.

In a unique and bold move, the chefs experimented with a new addition to the staff: the use of the chicken tester. The team is also experimenting with a lighter version of the evening menu: chicken scriddlings.

Chef Landon at the Cafe de Bayou

We arrived in Mound Bayou at 2:30 this afternoon and checked into our accommodations. It is kind of like summer camp and we are having great fun!
We found the local dollar general and picked up items for supper and breakfast tomorrow. Chef Landon is preparing spaghetti and meatballs de Bayou style.
Dr. Moore ruined a tire and cannot join us tonight as she had to get it replaced and she had the coffee pot! Back to dollar general for a coffee pot! We are pretty sure they had already figured out we were not locals, but by the time we returned within 20 minutes, it was obvious.
We hung the shower rods and curtains that we bought. We women got a lovely two shaded curtain with a band of flowers, but the men opted for plain beige.
After dinner, I have to go figure out how to get my air bed inflated and then I think I might be ready to get in it! I may be getting too old for summer camp.

Works Progress Administration: Possum Kingdom Bridge

Politically speaking, the best of all landscapes, the best of all roads, are those which foster movement toward a desirable social goal. John Brinkerhoff Jackson, in Discovering the Vernacular Landscape 

On my recent trip to Texas while researching the Eliasville bridge over the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, I ran across an item about the bridge built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940-1942 on the Brazos River below the Morris Sheppard Dam on Lake Possum Kingdom, Palo Pinto County.  Until I saw the pictures with the article, I had forgotten about my visit to the bridge in 1980.  Growing up  a mere half-hour drive from Possum Kingdom, I had seen the dam many times, but the first time I had actually gone below the bridge as opposed to just drive over it was while a visiting friend and I were out exploring.  I finally found time this past weekend to locate the photographs from that visit, taken with my Minolta 35mm.

Designed by the Texas State Highway Department, and built by the WPA, the bridge is the longest and most substantial masonry arch bridge in Texas.  The engineers chose the design to withstand flood waters released from the dam a mile above the bridge.

G. T. Cushman in Michael Conan's (ed.) Environmentalism in Landscape Architecture, described the WPA road, bridge, and landscape projects thus:

...built from locally abundant stone, bridges, culverts, and other drainage structures cost relatively little but demanded maximum labor.

In one noteworthy example, approximately 250 unskilled workers and 74 skilled workers employed by the WPA used over 7,200 cubic yards of limestone to build the spectacular 400-foot, eighteen-span bridge over the Brazos River just below the Possum Kingdom Dam..."

Many of the stonemasons employed on this project were former coal miners and had learned to cut stone underground.  Records do not indicate how many of the workers were local, though neighboring Young County had at least one coal mine in Newcastle, which could have supplied some workers.  Coal mining in Newcastle had ended by 1942 and there could have been unemployed miners qualified for this type of work.  Then on the other hand, I recall my grandfather talking about the Depression years and his comment was, "We stood in line all day long waiting for the next man to be unable to lift another shovel so we could take his place for a dollar a day."

Cushman continued:

...in the minds of their builders these structures also helped root new roadway construction to the existing natural and vernacular landscape by incorporating rustic or naturalistic architectural forms.
...designers juxtaposed an ancient engineering design with a modern concrete dam to create one of the state's greatest achievements in landscape construction.

The total length of the bridge is actually 433 feet and 4 inches.  The piers are founded on bedrock and are 3 feet wide, with the exception of piers 7 and 13, which are "bracing piers" and extend up to 5 feet.

If I Don't See You Again: 2011 is history

It's time for the obligatory end of the year review, and a bit of a break from all the historic and historical sites of Texas.  I recently learned that there is a difference: significance versus age.  I tend to lean toward historical, that all things of place matter because they are part of who we are because they are part of who we were.  I was reminded of that yesterday as I was searching through a box of old pictures looking for something I needed.  It was amazing how each photograph could transport me back to a time and place that I had not thought about in years, and yet recall the details of the event.

At midnight last night, the neighbor shot his gun (we are in rural Mississippi after all) 12 times.  I was grateful he did not see the need to add the other 2000 years.  I went outside and welcomed in the new year under a starry sky and a moon bright enough to have fair visibility.  The cats were playing, excited to have someone else outside, too, and Scruffy crawled up on my lap for his ear scratching and belly-rubbing, purring contentedly.  It does not take much to make a cat or a dog satisfied, does it?  We could take a lesson from that.

January 2011, I chanced upon Tippo, home to jazz and blues musician Mose Allison and uncovered the rural architectural building form of the Hardwicke-Etter Cotton Drying Extracting and Cleaning System, one of the last remaining gin manufacturers.

February took me to Tupelo several times, and the Lyric Theatre, which ranks among the top posts on the blog.  I made my first visit to the historic Spain House, and watched the demolition of Miller Hall to make room for three new mega-dorms on the campus.

March continued my exploration of the University's historic buildings and their architects with Frank P. Gates' University High School, Bondurant Graduate School, and Lamar Hall Law School.  I also solved the mystery of P. J. Krouse and the Bobo High School building. My last trip to Tupelo for the year resulted in another top post, the old Tupelo High School building.

April brought me smack-dab front row tickets for the James Pirkle Blues Band and another new Mississippi cultural experience.

My highlights for May and June were taking 8 students to South Africa for yet another incredible adventure in the country I could call home and my first visit to Mound Bayou, another place I could call home.  I also took students to the Gulf Coast for a service learning class, which gave me a chance to catch up on the post-Katrina story that never seems to end.

July sent me back to Mound Bayou, and my first visit to Shelby: City of Justice.  Imagine my amazement that the doctor repairing my hand in my recent visit to ER was from Shelby!  He, like everyone I have asked so far, has no idea why they call it the City of Justice.  We'll be down there this week, though, and I am making it my mission to find out.

August was the busiest month, with a trip to Texas, continuing to explore historic buildings on campus, more Mound Bayou, and a visit to the historic Public Square in Batesville.  The highlight, though, was finally finishing the bathroom remodel!

September brought the Mound Bayou September Fest, and my first visit to historic downtown New Albany and the Tallahatchie River Fest, with my good buddies the James Pirkle Blues Band.

In October, my travels took me back to Mound Bayou for the Historic Preservation Workshop for youth, and over to Atlanta for a few days.

I made a mad dash up to Franklin, Tennessee the day before Thanksgiving, and spent a lot of time with the buildings in the Circle that don't see much press.

The year concluded with another trip to Texas (and I've still got posts to do on that!) and another trip to Mound Bayou.  Looking back on this year, there was a whole lot of driving going on!  It looks like 2012 will be more of the same and I head back to Mound Bayou Thursday for a week with students and follow that up with a month of travels to Tupelo.  After that, who knows where the road will lead?  I do know it will always be an adventure, whether it is back to someplace I have already been or to a new destination.  After all, "the trail is the thing, not the end of the trail" (L'amour, 1984).