Milky Way

Recently I headed back out to the Delta with Deepak to try to get some pictures of the Milky Way. It turned out kinda like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The first place we went to had a good foreground subject, but there was too much light pollution to see the Milky Way. The second place we went to was dark enough to see the Milky Way, but the foreground was too overgrown. But the third place was just right.

We went by a set of silos which were surrounded by cropland. The conditions were great for taking pictures - it wasn't too hot, and there was a nice breeze that seemed to keep some of the mosquitoes away. We didn't even need to do any light painting on the silos, they were illuminated by the distant glow of the city lights from Little Rock. We stayed out there for awhile taking pictures as a loud chorus of bugs and frogs sang out across the darkness.

A Few More Stops

After spending the day driving through the Delta, it was finally time to turn around and start heading back home. But along the way I made a few more stops. Like at this one spot near Clarendon, which had some little silos and water tanks and other assorted farm things lying around.



Off in the distance, a few storm clouds were starting to build over the horizon.



Then I drove by the old Idlewild schoolhouse, which was built in 1921.



And then I drove through the little town of DeVall's Bluff, and had to stop at the old St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church. The church was built in 1912, but was abandoned in 1986 after the church's last parishioner passed away.







I made one last stop - at this old farmhouse that seems to have been abandoned for awhile.



Although it looks like someone is nice enough to be cutting the grass around the house, the building itself has continued to slowly deteriorate and crumble away.







And one last shot, taken before I got back in the car and finally drove home:

Clarendon

There is one easy way to tell how important a town was in the past - just look to see how impressive its courthouse is. And one of the most impressive courthouses in Arkansas is the Monroe County Courthouse in Clarendon. It was built in 1911, back when the Delta was the major economic center of Arkansas.



But times have changed, and the Delta has faced a steady decline. And that, unfortunately, is reflected by the buildings around the old courthouse. Almost all of them are empty and abandoned, and a few of them are crumbling away in the heat and humidity.



Clarendon is an old and historic town. French settlers moved into the area that would become Clarendon in 1799, building cabins near the spot where the Cache River flows into the White. The town grew in the 1820s when the Military Road (which was built to connect Little Rock and Memphis) was built through Clarendon. In 1828 a ferry crossing was established, along with the first post office. The town was officially incorporated in 1859, just in time for it to be an important location during the Civil War. The White River was a significant transportation artery during the war, and there were several fights and skirmishes that took place around the town. The fighting ultimately resulted in most of the town being burned in 1864, destroying most the buildings in the city.

It's an interesting place to drive through, with lots of things to stop and point the camera at. The old rail bridge (built in 1935) is still in use.



And the old train station, which was built in 1912. It hasn't been used in decades, and was covered by overgrown weeds and brush. I got this shot from the back of the station, with an old rusted Goodyear (or Goody?) sign.



Besides the courthouse, one of the most prominent buildings in Clarendon is the old Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was built in 1869, and was one of the first churches to be rebuilt after the town was burned during the Civil War.



The building was used as a church until the 1920s, when it then became a Masonic Lodge. It was used for meetings and as a community meeting center and as a library.



The old church was nearly torn down in the 1960s, but the building was saved and was donated to the Boy Scouts.



Not sure if the Scouts are still looking after the building. All the histories of the building that I could find ended with that note, which happened many decades ago. Not sure who owns the building now or who is out there keeping an eye on it.

Back To The Delta

It had been a few months since I'd driven out to the Delta, so I grabbed the camera and headed back east. I drove through Scott, and then through the little town of Keo. There are a bunch of old gins and other assorted farm buildings scattered through the center of town. I'm not sure how many are still in use, but one did have this old tractor parked outside.



And that same tractor, reflected in a large rain puddle.



Nearby was an old building, which had a bunch of pipes being stored along its side. It looks like that pipe had been there for awhile, probably stuck there and then never used (kinda like that box of old power cables that everyone has stuck in the back of a closet). The only one who has been using that pipe lately appears to be some birds, who have been using it for target practice.



And then I drove through England (the town, not the country), where I always have to stop and get pictures of this old abandoned house:



And then I pulled over again for this old building:



Heading east, you start heading towards the town of Stuttgart. This is an area that is filled with rice fields, and soon you drive by this old building. The paint has faded with age, but you can just barely read "Why Buy Japanese? THEY WON'T BUY OUR RICE." I think this is referring to a time (many decades ago) when Japan did not allow any imports of foreign rice, much to the chagrin of Arkansas rice farmers. I took a picture and then drove off in my car (I hope whoever painted that sign didn't see me, since my car is a Japanese brand).



In Stuttgart, I drove by this old building that was surrounded by a sea of yellow wildflowers.



And then heading further east, I stopped at this field (of soybeans, I think):



And in a nearby building was this old truck, which seems like it's been parked here for awhile (it doesn't look like it was made in Japan).

Tindall Dryer

It's easy to spot the Tindall Dryer as you drive south from Stuttgart, as it prominently stands tall against the flat lands of the Delta.



I was there with Deepak Pati, a photographer who excels at astrophotography. While we were waiting for it to get dark, I had some time to take a quick peek inside the old rice dryer. The interior was filled with the random flotsam that seems to accumulate in places like this - haphazardly stacked pieces of wood, plastic buckets and broken glass. Next to a window sat this old cash register, completely covered with a layer of rust.



The rice dryer was probably built sometime around the 1950s. And it worked by somehow drying....the rice? OK I admit I'm not an expert on it. But it must have been a really busy spot at harvest time for several decades. And it probably stopped being used as more modern rice facilities were built in Stuttgart.





A bunch of wildflowers were already growing in the grass surrounding the dryer:



On the way home we stopped to get pictures at another old rice dryer, which was lit only by the light of the full moon. We weren't the only ones out there, we were quickly surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes (it seemed too early in the year to have to be dealing with mosquitoes!).

Pickens

If you're driving southeast on Hwy. 65, you dive deep into the Arkansas Delta. You pass miles of farms and fields, which are empty and fallow this time of the year. The road passes over several rivers and creeks, which usually have cypress trees growing up in the still waters. The flat lands are occasionally punctuated by silos, or a rusting old and disused cotton gins.





Most of the people speeding down Hwy. 65 probably completely miss the small community of Pickens. This was, at one time, one of the largest cotton plantations in the state. It opened in the 1880s, and eventually contained over 20,000 acres of farmland. Here you can find an old plantation house (which was built in the 1940s, replacing one that had been built in the 1880s). And also the old cotton gin, which sits along a busy set of train tracks.





I drove through the fields around Pickens, eventually making it to the edge of Dumas. I stopped at this old building, which sat by and was nicely reflected in this huge puddle.



And next to it was a spot where a house must have once stood - it's long gone except for this fireplace and chimney.



And from there I headed back towards Pickens. Besides the old house and the cotton gin, there is also an old building that once housed a mercantile store and the commissary. It was quiet when I drove by, but the building is now home to a restaurant serving southern cooking that is so good that it's said that diners from as far as Pine Bluff and Little Rock make the drive to eat here.

Just down the road, I stopped to get a shot of these new silos sitting behind an old and weathered farm building.



The 20,000 acres of the Pickens Plantation were harvested by tenant farmers and sharecroppers. They tilled the lands with mules, and families lived on the land in sharecropper cabins. It's hard to know how many people once lived here, but in the late 1940s there were over 400 houses on the plantation grounds.

But in the 1950s, mechanized farming was introduced to the Delta. Now a tractor could do the work of the sharecroppers, and all those homes were soon left empty as people went off to find jobs elsewhere. Of those 400 homes that once stood here, almost all of them are gone. Only one remains.



Along a lonely and quiet dirt road sits one last sharecroppers house. The wood is worn and cracked, and the metal roof is peeling off and full of holes. 







The sun was setting, and I set up the camera on the tripod. I wanted to get some star trails over the old house, so I waited by the camera as it got dark. But I wasn't alone out there. In the breeze, there was the unforgettable aroma of a skunk. I wasn't sure where it was coming from exactly, and I nervously glanced over at the old house. Could it be the new home of a skunk - one who was not happy about some rude paparazzi getting pictures of its den? At one point I heard something rustling around in the tall grass by the house. I nervously shined the flashlight on it, only to see an armadillo walking around. Thankful I wasn't about to get sprayed by a skunk, I turned off the light and the little armadillo went about its business.

Eventually it was dark enough to start taking pictures for the star trails. The camera sat out there for a little bit over two hours, continually taking photographs of the sharecroppers house and sky above. When I got home later I combined all the shots together, and got this result:

Right Before The Storm

After leaving the Harper-Alexander House, I drove deeper into the Delta. Almost all of the farms and fields had already been harvested and cleared, with an occasional tractor or combine still out working and kicking up clouds of dust. It would storm later that day, and the clouds were heavy and leaden with the promise of rain.

The next stop was an old barn located just outside of Lonoke. It doesn't look like its used much anymore, considering the missing pieces of walls and roof.





And down the road was another old barn, sitting in some tall grasses that had turned brown over the dry summer. The front was covered with some vines, which grew like snakes slithering across the weathered wood.





And further down the road was this abandoned church. It looks like it's not been in use for awhile, considering the congregation of mud dauber nests that surrounds the front door of the church.





And then heading down the road again, I made another stop at this large farm building. It was surrounded by a small flock of some sort of ducks/poultry (not sure what exactly?).



And then turning to the east, I headed past more farms and fields that had just been harvested for the end of the season. I had to stop the car and turn around after passing by this small complex of farm buildings, which included some grain silos and an old cotton gin.



Protected under the rusted metal of the building was an old Buick, which was covered with a thick blanket of dust.



If you look closely, you can see the dust had been slightly disturbed by a few paw prints from a cat.



This old tractor was parked by the old cotton gin.



And I took a quick peek through the broken window on the door, which showed a bunch of rusty machinery inside.



And from there I headed further east, eventually going through the small community of Hamilton. I was here a few years ago, but the old buildings here seemed to sing out and say "You'll Be Back."



I'm not entirely sure what this old building was used for. Presumably back in the olden days, you could say that this was the room where it (farm stuff?) happened.



While I was in Hamilton, I was sure to get the camera out and make sure that I got My Shot.



And also in Hamilton was this old building, and I know I wouldn't have been satisfied if I didn't stop for another picture.



And then I made one last stop at this old building, as the storm clouds sat heavy on the horizon.



And then it was time to head home. Which was good timing since it started to pour rain. At one point it was raining so hard that the poor windshield wipers couldn't keep up and I had to pull over (it didn't help that the other drivers on the road were deciding to randomly slam on their brakes, for fun I guess).