Mississippi Industrial Land and Timber Corporation

This small metal sign was near the King Edward billboard along I-20 in Edwards I wrote about the other day. It reads, "Hep Prevent Forest Fires" and also includes the words and logo of the Mississippi Industrial Land and Timber Corporation. I doubt it any traveler could have read the sign since it was so far off the interstate, so maybe deer, possums, raccoons and squirrels were smarter back then than they are today.

I couldn't find much information about the company other than that it was formed in the early 1960s and dissolved in either 1971 or 1989, according to corporate records kept by the state of Mississippi. If anyone knows anymore, post it here!

Where the Fleet once called home...

The fleet of the Corps of Engineers used to dock along the Yazoo Diversion Canal just a little piece from downtown Vicksburg on Washington Street. You can see some of the remnants of the warehouses that used to line the street and extend near the river as you drive down the street today. When I took photos of the Sprague the other day, I wandered on down and walked through the woods between the road and the river. All that remains now is pilings and two cool-looking tanks that look like bullet trains. The old tree stump has seen many a high water run through it, but makes a pretty neat looking piece of natural art.

The Ark of the Covenant

 I met the Rev. H.D. Dennis more than 20 years ago. I was fairly new to town and he came to the newspaper where I worked at the time and ended up in my office one day. And the man could talk. That first conversation with him revolved around his news that the Lord had allowed him to build another Ark of the Covenant. Even more, the Lord allowed him to make improvements to it, namely by adding wheels on the bottom so it could be pushed and not have to be carried. Rev. Dennis said the Lord told him to have a parade with the Ark of the Covenant. He also said the Lord told him to come to the newspaper to have that news put in the paper. Our conversation ended with me telling Rev. Dennis that as soon as the Lord told me to put that in the paper I would. He was satisfied with that answer and left. I never have forgotten my first experience of Rev. Dennis.

The Ark of the Covenant still resides at Margaret's Grocery, the castle he constructed for his gentle wife on Washington Street. I stopped by this weekend to record it more closely for I am still flabbergasted that it has survived all these years. Rev. Dennis had a short ritual for opening the Ark on the few times I asked him about it. It included taking a Bible to the Ark and placing it in a precise position where the flowers are now located in the Ark. Rev. Dennis chastised me many a time for not knowing the Scriptures he used to quote during the times we talked about the Ark.  He did it in such a loving way, however.

I love the Ark for it is vintage Dennis design with all sorts of objects incorporated into its design, including a favorite item of his, a large hairclip. It is quite a heavy object so I am glad the Lord let him put wheels on this one.

 One large wasp nest on the left side and several smalls ones on the right side are now part of the Ark. I am glad I did not decide to take these photos earlier in the summer because that must have been quite a surprises for whoever ventured to open it up.

Margaret's Grocery is slowly fading away, with some of the structure now falling down. I will post photos of that later on. Vandals have already broken through the front door and I hate to think what they have done to the artwork inside. I am glad I have photos of the interior, however.

Go by and see Margaret's Grocery while you can. It won't be around for too much longer and it is such an important part of Vicksburg's heritage. But more than anything, it is a monument to one woman who deserved such a castle from the man who loved her.

Billboards from the 1960s along I-20 discovered

Every once in a while I discover something that just delights my heart. Such can be said of these two billboards I discovered along I-20 about 1.25 miles west of Edwards on the north side of the interstate. Both billboards are up in the woods and I have passed down that road for 20 years and have never noticed them...until this weekend.

The first sign is for Alamo Plaza. As you head toward Vicksburg, the sign advertises an Alama Plaza that was in Dallas. The other side of the billboard advertises an Alama Plaza that existed on Hwy. 80  in Jackson for years and years.

 Here's a view of the billoard and its proximity to the interstate. It is located 1.1 miles west of Edwards on the north side.

••••

The photos below are of a billboard for two King Edward Hotels in Beaumont, Texas, and Jackson. The billboard is located about 1.4 miles west of Edwards on the north side of the interstate.

 The bottom part of the sign has fallen to the ground and is half-buried. The sign facing west reads Beaumont. The top part of the sign is below. It reads "Thank you. Visit our King Edward Hotel."

 The billboard advertising the King Edward Hotel as you head to Jackson is much more worn than the other side. But you can still read most of the sign including the words Downtown Jackson. The wording on the second part of the sign that is on the ground reads " Drive-In Lobby." The little circle at the top of the billboard is a star.

I am using information from the excellent blog, Mississippi Preservation, to date the sign. According to a post on their site about the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, the King Edward in Jackson was sold to Dumas Milner  in 1954.
Here is an excerpt from that post:

It was sold in 1954 to Jackson entrepreneur Dumas Milner for $1m. Milner’s $700,000.00 program of renovation and modernization was nothing if not thorough. Few corners of the 400-room hotel were left untouched.  In went modern touches like an escalator to the mezzanine floor, a fifth floor rooftop swimming pool with the hopping Patio Club and mod furniture throughout all twelve floors. Out went the grand rotunda, filled-in to accommodate a new ballroom.  Society spots like the Petroleum Club moved in too.  In 1960, a new and even larger convention hall was added on Capitol Street.  The legislators continued to make the King Edward their unofficial home, thus continuing the oft-uttered joke that there were three houses of the Mississippi Legislature, the Upper, the Lower and the Edwards House.   The dining room was changed several times during these years.  The former Venetian Room became the French Verandah after an elaborate makeover.  When this proved less than popular, Milner remade it again into the “Coach and Six.”  There was also a popular oyster bar on the northwest corner facing Capitol Street.  Milner also banished most of the offices from the third, fourth and fifth floors in order to accommodate more hotel rooms.  There would eventually be a total of 407 rooms, though many of them would be considered small by the standards of our day.

Milner didn’t stop with just renovating the hotel from stem to stern.  The name “Edwards Hotel” was apparently not regal enough for his tastes, so he changed the name to the “King Edward”, thus the name which has become so familiar to us today came into being on a whim.   There was another “King Edward” owned by Milner, the old Hotel La Salle in Beaumont, Texas was purchased by Milner in the early 1960s and given a similar makeover and was also renamed the “King Edward.”  It survived in one form or another until its demolition a few years ago.   With the new nomenclature, the roof signs in Jackson were altered to reflect the hotel’s enhanced status.   Still visible for miles, the red neon was changed to the “King Edward” we all recognize today.

Save the Sprague

As has become a tradition on my blog at the start of a new year,  I once again appeal for the people of Vicksburg to rise up and do what they can to save the Sprague. The remains of the famous sternwheeler lie in tangled vines on Washington Street near downtown. Most people passing by the historical remnants of Vicksburg's past have no clue how important a role the boat, a world record holder in steamboat lore, has in the heritage of our town. But for another year, it has been subjected to the elements and rust has had another year to gnaw at the once proud lady of the river.

I know all of the rusted pieces cannot be saved, but just close your eyes when you finish reading this and picture in your mind the sternwheeer section, pictured in the top photos, if was outfitted with new paddles and placed in a pool of water and allowed to show its majesty for all to see. Place a motor alongside the sternwheel and just think of how people would marvel at the size of the sternwheel as it churned the water. It would be an awesome sight!

Spread the word, my friends. I know not many people come to this blog, but leave a comment if you stumble across this post. Let others know of the plight of the Sprague. Let's save her before Mother Nature takes her or she is cut up and taken for scrap. We cannot let that happen. This piece of Vicksburg heritage can be saved; it can be a showpiece for the city; and it can serve the people of Vicksburg for years to come.

More glorious gingkos and other recent photos....

Some recent shots of the glorious gingkos in the Vicksburg National Cemetery and some other shots from this past week....