Down at the end of
Main Street, under the big oaks (left), C.B. Johnson's blacksmith
shop across from the cotton gin was a gathering place for the
town's men. Another familiar sight was a man named Charlie, who
turned an old car hood into a sled to which hitched his mule to
haul away folks' trash.
Simpler times
In a time when small-town America, with its independent stores, family farms and local
characters is being swept away by interstates, television and megamarts, small towns that
have survived offer a tantalizing memory of years when time moved slower and summers
seemed to last forever.
Holcomb, Mississippi, echoes that era, even as the old stores have crumbled and the
town has become a bedroom community for larger towns nearby.
Stores on North Main
looking east toward the cafe with the Jackson store on the left.
The original Holcomb Bank
on North Main Street, later a grocery.
Lincoln Jackson in Jackson's store.
Lincoln and Lucy Jackson in Jackson's
store.
Originally Bill Martin's store at the
corner
of Tuscohoma Street and North Main
Street, later C.W. Lott's store and the
office of the justice of the peace, with
the Hayden cotton gin in the background.
The old railroad depot between
South Main and North Main streets. See
railroad.
The old gin on the right, looking east
down North
Main Street to the depot on the right and, at the
end of the street, the fertilizer and seed house.
Honeysuckle Lane, the
road to Guy's Corner.
The old gin on the right, looking east
at
the stores along North Main Street.
D.L. Holcomb's original
service station, later used as a post office, at
North Main and Tuscahoma.
Looking west on North
Main, the Harris-Nason store, the third post office
(later a pool hall) and the McRee store.
Looking west on North Main
Street, the
Harris-Nason store, the third post office
(later a pool hall) and the McRee store.
Holcomb School, built in
1936, on Highway 7 with Honeysuckle Lane to the left.
Holcomb School, shown in a 1919
newspaper photo.
The first Holcomb
school was a small building with one teacher. This later was enlarged and a second teacher
added. Then a two-story building was constructed and remained in use until a brick
building (old newspaper photo) was built in 1916-17. This was replaced in 1936 by the
larger brick building (above right).
Looking out the window of the old seed
building on North Main Street toward Williams Street/Sparta Road.
The old railroad Section House in the
railroad right of way. See railroad.
Movies
Many residents fondly remember early movies
in a makeshift theater in the former Arthur Williams store on North Main Street near the
old bank. Featuring an often balky projector, reels of flickering images and rough
stair-step bleacher seats, the cinema was a weekend tradition. Tickets were 10-15 cents,
and the doors were flung open in the summer because it was so hot.
