A clear view of a storefront and a distant house. Could this have been the WPA project [see note below]that transformed the dirt road through the Bluff to gravel? Nice shot of the state of the art machinery at work.
Mules at work and clear views of structures on both sides of the road.
Schwab family house?
If the major storefront here is the Prange store, then the mystery is solved. Was the structure on the canal side of the road the Inman Store? What appears here to be a power pole would date it after the arrival of electricity at the Bluff. Even I can remember when it arrived at our place. (At least, I think I can.)
[In his memoir David Prange alludes to the red clay of the Hill Road before the marvelous improvements brought by the WPA graveling of the road through the Bluff:
"The Hill Road designation was not due to having been named for the Hill family, which was in residence there, but because within the first one-half mile upon leaving the Bluff three hills were encountered which were uniformly situated and almost equal in the height of about fifty feet. To navigate the Hill Road during and immediately after a rain was a very real challenge because it was comprised of red clay. At a later time, during the Great Depression, the WPA graded the road to be more level after which they surfaced it with loose gravel."
So, these pictures could very well be of that WPA effort -- historical indeed!
My grandfather Geroge Shelby Dawson was a boat pilot. The Mary Woods was one of the two boats(the other being the Fish Hawk) he was the pilot on. My father is Willim Shelby Dawson, Sr. and I am Cheryl Dawson Johnson. Was great to see this picture. Talked to my father after seeing this picture and he said the captian was Fred Paul. Could not remember the engineers name but said he used to make duck calls. My father described the boat exactly. With the steam coming out of the smoke stacks and the barge barely being seen because of the load of logs. It's great that he remembers all of these things. I was very young when my grandfather and grandmother died.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this interesting information, Cheryl. My memories of the Mary Woods II are vivid, and I was indeed saddened to learn of its apparent destruction up at Jackson Port where it was being preserved. Should you come across other family recollections, please forward them along. DPW
ReplyDelete