At the Houston, MS Cotton Compress

HOUSTON MS– July 1999

Early one morning in July we drove into Houston in Chickasaw County in search of a tower we had been told was painted with the local high school mascot. Sure enough, the tower proclaiming the home of the Houston Hilltoppers was just north of the town square, located right behind the McDonald’s and Hardee’s restaurants. As we photographed the tower in the building heat, we spotted an old, rusty tower west of town. The tower was part of the Houston Cotton Compress, whose old buildings were being torn down. We pulled into the parking lot of the USDA Service Center offices across Highway 8 from the tower, and began to unload and set up our cameras.

Hill Country 99P-015-05

As we did so, a boy of about twelve years of age appeared next to us on a bicycle.

“Watcha doin’?” he inquired.

“We’re taking pictures of that water tower,” we replied.

“Oh? What company y’all with?” he asked.

“We’re not with a company,” we said. “We’re just taking pictures of water towers.”

“Oh,” he said, clearly perplexed at the idea of a couple of grown men who would spend their time taking photographs of old, rusty water towers, especially in the 102-degree heat of July in Mississippi. After a moment his face cleared, and he pressed on.

“I like that old place,” he declared, “but they’re tearin’ it down.”

“Oh,” we asked, “why’s that?”

“I dunno. My daddy works for them. He’s probably over there right now.”

“It looks like it’s been there a long time,” we ventured.

“Yeah, said the boy, “that place is older ‘n dirt.”

“It looks it,” we replied, wondering how old dirt is to a 12-year-old.

“I wish they wasn’t gonna tear it down,” said the boy, the regret evident in his voice.

Why’s that?” we asked.

“Because it’s a fun place to play,” the boy replied. “There’s all kinda stuff up there, and places you can go where and won’t nobody find you.”

He paused, and then went on. “Yeah, if your daddy or somebody’s gettin’ on ya, you can go up there an’ hide and they won’t never think to look for ya.”

We chuckled, and continued our routine of exposures. As we did so, they boy stood there, alternately watching us and the passing traffic on Highway 8. The heat continued to build, and we were both sweating profusely.

“Sure is hot today,” we said.

“Yeah, it is,” said the boy. “You should go stand under the water tower.”

“Why?” we asked. A careful look at the water tower, and a luminance analysis with our spotmeter had not revealed any substantial shade under the tower.

“‘Cause it leaks!” exclaimed the boy. “You can stand under it an’ get wet!” As we laughed, he continued. “Yeah, it’s great. It can help cool you off when you been playin.’ And if you don’t shower for a couple days, you can stand under it an’ wash off all the dirt.”