So long, Lobdell Store

My wife and business partner, Debra L. Ferguson, has been documenting the Mississippi Delta to some degree ever since she bought her first camera back in college, and her work evolved into a series of images she calls the Vanishing Delta.

One of her objectives has been preserve images of Delta landmarks before they cease to exist. Many of the buildings she has photographed in the last 20 years have done just that - vanished. Time and disuse take their tole.

The latest to disappear was the Lobdell Store, an old general store and plantation commissary along Miss. 1 on the west side of Bolivar County, just south of Beulah, Mississippi. I grew up in Rosedale, maybe 8 miles north of the store, and my father - an aerial applicator - worked across a good deal of the fields in that area. That included the "Lobdell Place," the plantation from which the store and the surrounding community took its name.

The store hasn't been opened in decades and had been caving in for years. It was finally taken down a few months ago. We noticed that it had disappeared while visiting family for Thanksgiving.

Someone told us recently that the old Booga Bottom Store in north Bolivar County was gone, as well. For years, it was a notable eatery, serving home-cooked lunches. I think that even Southern Living magazine carried a short piece on it once. I've had Delta natives from as far away as California to tell me about the memorable pies once served at what the locals generally called "Booga Bottom's".

Lately, Debra has become involved with Delta State University's archives in its effort to preserve historic photos of the region. Archive staff members are making several stops through the Delta, asking people to bring in old family photos that might be scanned into the university's collection. The goal is to capture scenes of rural and town life during past decades, and the images would become an invaluable resource for students and scholars researching Delta subjects.

On Saturday, the archives will be in Clarksdale evaluating photos, and Debra will be on hand, acting as a consultant on both the photographs and history of the region, particularly in agriculture.

Debra always welcomes suggestions from people about Delta landmarks that should be photographed for posterity. You can reach her by email at debra@southern-images.com.