Tucker

The small town of Tucker in Jefferson County is probably mostly known as being the site of one of the state's maximum security prisons. But within the town are several neat older buildings, including some with deep history. As you drive into the middle of town, you pass this old home (which sits behind a store, I'm guessing the people in the home used to run the store back in the olden days).



I drove by the sign warning against stopping for hitchhikers, but did stop in the middle of the road (there was no traffic or escaped prisoners) to get this shot of an old car, left to rust by an old abandoned building.



Just down the road is the old Tucker school. It sits nearly hidden amongst trees and overgrown vegetation, and looks like it's been abandoned for some time. But the school was built in 1915, back when Tucker was a small plantation community. The school had four classrooms, and also a cafeteria in a separate building that does not exist anymore. Of course, the building reflects the time when it was built. The school only served white students, while Black students attended a Rosenwald school that was built in 1925 (which was torn down in the 1972).



The Tucker plantation was established way back in 1871. The plantation mostly grew cotton, and expanded to over 2,800 acres. In 1916, the state purchased the plantation lands and some surrounding acres and used it to build the prison complex. But there are still some traces of that old plantation. The former "Big House" still stands, but it is in rough shape.



It looks like the roof has recently collapsed, which will probably speed up the structural decline of the home. This is the view of the back door of the house, which has a view of prison complex off in the distance.

In The Delta

Sometimes you just never know what you'll find when driving down a random road in the middle of the Delta. The road was marked by this small sign for a church, sitting under some leaden skies that promised rain.



The road then passed by this old house, weathered and worn and slowing being consumed by nature.



The road passed by another abandoned old house, which featured a wide front porch with boards coated with chipped and faded paint.





The larger window looks to be the same size as the door, which makes me wonder if maybe this used to be a duplex sometime back in the olden days?



I ended up taking lots of pictures of this porch. I bet it was once a fine place to sit at the end of a long day.



I headed back to the car and drove by this old tree, which was being used as a roost by a bunch of birds. Some slightly menacing looking storm clouds were gathering off in the distance.



I turned back on the main road and then drove through the small town of Tucker. Tucked away, nearly covered by trees and weeds, is the old Tucker school. It was built in 1915, and was used as a school until the 1960s. The building was then used as a church, and it now sits lonely and abandoned.



Tucker is known for being the location of the Tucker maximum security prison, but it was once a large plantation established back in 1871. The plantation mostly grew cotton, and expanded to over 2,800 acres. In 1916, the state purchased the plantation lands and some surrounding acres and used it to build the prison complex. But there are still a few signs of the old plantation. The long abandoned "Big House," sits enshrouded in trees and brush and is almost hidden from view. This is the view of the back door, which was taken after walking through what I would soon discover was some tick-infested tall grass.



Next to the house is the shell of another old building, where all that remains is the floor and most of the walls. The building was constructed in 1913 and served as the plantation office, a general store and as a post office. An old safe still sits in the back corner, collecting rust and weeds.







The outside walls of the building were covered with thick vines, which seemed to stretch across and cover up nearly all of the bricks.





And one last shot, before I headed back to the car to drive home in the rain: