A Delta Journey: Early Sunday Morning in Rayville and the Ruins of Thomastown
As I headed east on Old Highway 80 from Monroe on a sunny Sunday morning, I decided to spend some time looking for things to …
History
A Delta Journey: Remembering Stubb’s Pecanland: When Pecans Were King
Eastern Ouachita Parish, Louisiana is loaded with pecan trees. They cover the land in great rows for miles and miles. These perfectly straight rows exist …
A Delta Journey: West Monroe’s Antique Alley, Bayou Brew House, Moon Lake and Trapp’s on the River
West Monroe’s Trenton Street is one of the best places in the country to shop for antiques and ephemera. There’s not a whole lot with …
A Delta Journey: How People Got A New Start in Crew Lake
On old Highway 80, heading west from Rayville toward Monroe, one comes to a community with a most unusual name—Start, Louisiana. It’s not an incorporated …
A Delta Journey: Lake Chicot and Old Juke Joints in Eudora
Across the Mississippi River Bridge from Greenville, Mississippi, a traveler immediately gets a view of a beautiful blue lake to the northwest. This long lake, …
A Delta Journey: Dawn in Rena Lara and Breakfast in Greenville
I had agreed to drop off a co-worker at work on my way out of town, so I ended up getting on the road at …
A Fall Celebration on Mason’s Lower End
Every October, the town of Mason in Tipton County, Tennessee sponsors a Unity Fall Festival on the square, in front of what is left of …
An Old and Forgotten Rural Community on Memphis’ Henrietta Road
It was a blistering hot summer’s day, probably about 1977 or so. The ice cream truck had come past our house but I missed it, …
Toll Gate: A Hidden and Historic Cemetery in Bartlett
While browsing online one afternoon, I came upon a 1965 United States Geological Survey topographical map of the Ellendale area east of Bartlett, and along …
The Last Black Fife and Drum Picnic in America
Fife and drum music was once found in Black communities throughout the South, but by 1970, it was found only in Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee, …