Country Roads Lagniappe

This is a continuation of a day trip my husband and I recently made to Columbia, Mississippi, which is located in the south central part of the state. If you missed the first part of the story and would like to read it before you read this post, you can click on the following link: A Place Called Columbia, Mississippi. It was a gorgeous sunshiny day, and we traveled the back roads from Vicksburg, which took us through several small towns and communities in rural Mississippi. I would like to share a few of the pictures I captured along our journey of things and places you typically see when you explore off the beaten path of the interstate highways and travel the back roads. As you enter the city limits of a small town or community, you'll usually see a welcome sign beside the road and a water tower in the distance. I love photographing water towers, especially old ones, but the Newhebron tower was bright and colorful against the brilliant blue sky and we went in search of it to get a closer look. On our way to the tower, we passed the Newhebron United Methodist Church. Isn't it pretty! If you have the time to get off the highway and explore these little towns, there is a very good chance that you will find something of interest. This next town is Prentiss, the county seat of Jefferson Davis County (which means that a courthouse is nearby). The courthouse is usually easy to find in the center of the downtown area. As we drove around the courthouse, we came across this pretty little house still decked out in its Christmas finery. There was a sign in the yard identifying it as the Dumas House, ca 1906 ... Sawmills are a familiar sight along the rural highways in south central Mississippi, and we passed this one near Georgetown, on MS Highway 28 ... Water is sprayed over the logs to keep them from drying out and splitting, and also makes the logs easier to cut. This makes for interesting pictures on icy winter days. Old barns always catch my eye, and I spotted this one not too far from the sawmill ... It looks as if it would have fallen over a long time ago if it wasn't wedged between those trees ... For some reason, this old horse trailer was calling out to me, and I captured it with my zoom lens from the highway. We passed this next bit of lagniappe, if you can call it that, on Hwy. 27 between Georgetown and Crystal Springs. This supports my theory that you never know what you're going to find when you travel the back roads. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like. When I first saw the signs, I thought they were inspirational messages, but as I got closer to photograph them I realized that they weren't quite what I was expecting. This sign was my favorite ... While researching some of the places and things I captured in pictures during our trip, I came across a very valuable and interesting source of information &#151 Landmark Hunter &#151 a huge database of historic and notable landmarks of the United States. Categories include battle sites, courthouses, cemeteries, houses, farms, and monuments ... and even water towers, just to name a few. I was delighted to discover it and I'm sure it's going to become my favorite research site in the future, especially when planning our "off the beaten path" adventures. I love to photograph old bridges, and was excited to come across this old abandoned bridge over the Strong River on Bridgeport Road (between MS highways 28 and 478), in Simpson County. My discovery of Landmark Hunter led me to a similar website called Bridgehunter, and I found this bridge listed, but there wasn't much information available on its history. Historical, or not ... I found it fascinating. Isn't it amazing how those little pine trees are growing up through the bridge ... Not too far down the road from the bridge on the outskirts of Crystal Springs, Mississippi, we saw a billboard sign advertising Four Seasons Garden Art, and it was the last stop for the day. I hope you will join me next time for a walk-by photo tour of five acres of the most amazing outdoor gallery of garden statuary, pottery, and elegant fountains in the South. UPDATE:   I recently received a note from the mother of a girl scout named Sarah, who came across this blog story while she was researching engineering designs while working on her “Think Like an Engineer” badge.  As a special request from Sarah’s mom Michelle, I would like to pass along a link to a website she shared which features a treasure trove of information on everything you would ever want to know about bridges, including the history of bridges, construction and types of bridges, and even includes stories about famous bridges from all over the world.  If you have an interest in bridges … or even if you don’t … I think you will find the website fascinating.  I hope you will check it out for yourself!  [September 14, 2020] History of Bridges  April 14, 2022 – Post Script: I received a note today from a library media specialist in Maine (I'll refer to her as "Mrs. G" for privacy) who thanked me for the information on bridges included in this post. Her library is hosting a "Future Engineers" workshop this month, and the link about bridges I shared in my post was instrumental in leading her students to some beneficial sites in their research. One of her student volunteers, Amanda, came across a website she was excited to share with me. Amanda's father is a civil engineer, and the following link is to a page featuring the architecture and engineering designs of bridges:  https://alansfactoryoutlet.com/the-architecture-and-building-of-bridges/ I appreciate Mrs. G sharing Amanda's contribution to their project with me, and I'm pleased to add it to this post. I'm sure other readers interested in the history of the design and construction of bridges will enjoy the article. And thank YOU, Amanda, for your interest and enthusiasm in your project and for sharing your research. You are indeed an inspiration!