The Tennessee Delta II

On my second photographic journey into Fayette County, I stayed mostly in the southeast quadrant of the county, in the areas between Rossville, Moscow, Oakland, Williston and Somerville. I didn’t find as much evidence of the county’s blues culture as I had hoped, but I did find some old and historic buildings. At Somerville, I took pictures of John McFerren’s store, which is no longer open, but which was the headquarters for the Civil Rights Movement in Fayette County. An old classic car has been parked in front of it, possibly McFerren’s car, and the site almost looks as if it is being prepared to be a museum. Sadly, the Fayette County Civic and Welfare League Community Center where I had met Viola McFerren, John McFerren’s ex-wife and a leader in the county’s struggle for civil rights, is now abandoned and chained off on the road toward Macon. But at Macon, I found a number of historic buildings, including an abandoned mansion tucked back into the woods north of the road. Next door was a mysterious crosswork of sidewalks, a fountain and a flagpole. I couldn’t imagine what they had belonged to until I noticed the flagpole, and suddenly I realized that this was probably the site of Macon’s elementary school. However, no other trace of the building remained. The nearby Town of Oakland has grown significantly over the last several years as it is becoming a suburb of Memphis. But its Main Street has remained largely the way it was when I first saw it in the 1980’s, except that the railroad tracks are long gone. The right of way would actually make a great biking and hiking trail.