Noteworthy
F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 2
N E W S , T I M E LY T I D B I T S , A N D O T H E R
CURIOSITIES
LO O K C LO S E R
W
Preserving the History of Turkey Creek THE RECENTLY-COMPLETED RENOVATION OF THE PHOENIX NAVAL STORES PAYMASTER’S OFFICE IS A VESTIGE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE IN MISSISSIPPI POST CIVIL WAR
I
n 1866, a group of formerly enslaved individuals made a home along a tiny creek running parallel to the hcoast, just north of the bustling city that would later become Gulfport, Mississippi. On those three hundred and twenty acres of land, where local lore says wild turkeys roamed, their families settled in. Their isolation allowed them a sense of autonomy that continued through the Jim Crow years, during which their land wealth, self-governance, and steady employment at the nearby Yarayan Co. (and later the Phoenix Naval Stores Co.) plant allowed the people of Turkey Creek to thrive, cultivating a distinct heritage and identity as a community. In late 2021, a long-anticipated project honoring this history was completed in Turkey Creek: the renovation of the Phoenix Naval Stores Paymaster’s Office. From 1909 to 1958, a large percentage of Turkey Creek’s majority-Black residents were employed by the Yaryan Naval Stores Co., which was later purchased by the Phoenix Naval Stores Co. Manufacturing turpentine, creosote, and other pine sap products—the plant provided much-needed income to the community, though at a cost of the danger and health hazards that the jobs presented. In 1943, an explosion at the plant killed eleven men and wounded two others. With the decline of the naval stores industry nationwide, the Phoenix Naval Stores Co. halted production in 1958, removing the machinery and plant from Turkey Creek. The only remaining remnant of this era is the Paymaster’s Office, built in 1920 with a fireproof roof and walls. From 1950 until the late 1990s, the building served as a family home. In 2003, community activist Derrick Evans purchased the property in hopes of promoting its restoration as a monument to Turkey Creek’s significance during the history of post-Civil War Mississippi. In a letter of support written to accompany the project’s application for the National Parks Service Civil Rights Program Grant, Evans expressed the historical significance of the building: “An early and longtime site of African-American industrial work in coastal Mississippi and the Deep South (including its social inequalities, vulnerabilities, and workplace 8
tragedies), the one-time Phoenix Naval Stores turpentine plant office is now a rare and endangered vestige of the inherently interdisciplinary civil rights history and heritage of our community, nation, and state—including decades of seen and unseen advocacy for fair wages, worker rights, job safety, public health, and environmental justice for African American citizens of Gulfport, Harrison County, the state of Mississippi, and beyond.” Since 2015, the Phoenix Naval Stores Paymaster’s Office has been listed on the Mississippi Heritage Trust’s “Ten Most Endangered Places,” and unabridged Architecture has been providing services towards the project in the form of historic research, materials investigations, design, gathering oral histories, and more. Funded by a National Parks Service Civil Rights Program Grant, the renovation was completed in August 2021, transforming the building into a community history center and archive for the Turkey Creek community. —Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Visitation is by appointment only, via (228) 688-0846.
Celebrating the rehabilitation of Phoenix Naval Stores Paymaster’s Office are: Judy Steckler, former Executive Director of the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain; Derrick Evans, owner; Rip Daniels, general contractor; Helen Aycock, former resident of the Gulf Coast Creosoting Plant; John and Allison Anderson, architects; and Lettie Evans Caldwell, long-time resident of Turkey Creek. Photo courtesy of unabridged Architecture.
Mississippi: A Tapestry of American Life
THE NATCHEZ LITERARY AND CINEMA CELEBRATION RETURNS THIS FEBRUARY
F
or the thirty-third year, the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration (NLCC) will draw some of the nation’s most intriguing minds to the Bluff City. Held from February 24–26, this year’s conference will feature a slate of filmmakers, Pulitzer Prize winners, authors, and historians who will spend the weekend exploring Mississippi as “A Tapestry of American Life”. “Over the years, the scholarship in this area has quadrupled,” said Betty Jo Harris, Coordinator of the NLCC. “With new technology and what scholars are able to discover, there have just been a plethora of books being written about the lower Mississippi region.” With a background that includes coordinating events at an independent book-
F E B 2 2 // C O U N T R Y R O A D S M A G . C O M
shop, teaching history, and fundraising—Harris could not have been more perfectly poised to curate the lineup for this year’s Celebration. Things will kick off with Thursday night’s film night, featuring screenings of Natchez native Brian Duong’s short film Smoot’s and Patrick O’ Connor’s documentary on the changing of the Mississippi state flag, Look Away, Look Away. Friday will proceed with a series of panel discussions and lectures from regional scholars, including Dr. Cory James Young from the University of Nebraska, who will discuss the history of the Pennsylvania businessmen who came to Natchez to make their fortunes and left behind some of the area’s most iconic plantations, including Melrose and Dunleith. A lecture from Sarah Duggan of the
Historic New Orleans Collection will follow, featuring examples of Pennsylvania furniture and decorative arts still present in Natchez homes. The day will end at the Mississippi School of Folk Arts with indigo dyeing workshops, jambalaya, and the Krewe of Phoenix Mardi Gras Parade. Highlights from Saturday’s schedule include a reading from New Orleans author Maurice Ruffin from his short story collection The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You and a lecture from 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner Caleb McDaniel, author of The Sweet Taste of Liberty. —Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Learn more about this year’s NLCC at colin.edu/nlcc or by calling (601) 446-1104.
