Town just sitting waiting to be restored reborned. The beauty of it all is amazing. The history it hold and shows … WOW. Thank you Keith.

@Keithdotson

9 ай бұрын

I totally agree! Thanks for watching

@sandyfields678

8 ай бұрын

SAW on tv recently,Morgan freeman ,,actor was there owns an old storen ,i,,think. It was dateline,or 2020..has it 4 any one to hang out and do blues,,etc,,so he may. B from there., and may help it get on map..no jobs..in s w al. Here, black belt area is deserted as no jobs..,so young ones hav to move .. nice country..good place for peace and quiet....

This town should be a national treasure. Imagine the possibility 😢

@Keithdotson

4 ай бұрын

I agree completely

The land of the delta blues. It has a haunting beauty about it.

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

"Haunting" is the right word. Would be great to see what you would capture on film in these places. Thanks for watching.

I visited Clarksdale as a child. I'm trying to trace my roots through memory. My grandma lived near the Piggly Wiggly. Most of these buildings I remember quite well

@mikejohn0088

Жыл бұрын

Piggly Wiggly -- was that a whore house?

@sandyfields678

8 ай бұрын

It's waiting quietly for u to come back..Morgan freeman has an old store for music now. Think he's from there,,I love ghost towns out west, we need to help Sav it,,.

@shirleymorris6288

7 ай бұрын

I also lived just around the corner from piggly wiggly when it was first opened on 4th street before moving to highway 61.

I am grateful for this video

Your videos are always excellent and I enjoy watching them. Even though I have lived 46 years in Arkansas, I have never explored or even traveled in what I call the "deep south" - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Through your videos, your photography and your historical narratives I have learned a great deal and an appreciation for this part of the country. Thank you so much!

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Terry! I appreciate your steady support. I'd like to talk to you privately soon about Arkansas if you have time. I'll message you on Patreon

@terryolsen4244

3 жыл бұрын

@@Keithdotson Sounds good. I'll be happy to help you any way I can.

Love these videos! We’re taking a road trip out NC this. September. Plan is to got through Tuscaloosa to Natchez, up the Blues Highway to Leland and Clarksdale, then head back east through Oxford and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Looking forward to some glorious photography, and these images have me really hyped. Thanks!!

@Keithdotson

Жыл бұрын

What an incredible road trip! You are in for some real treats!

I was born and raised in Clarksdale until I was 12, these bring back a lot of memories. Thank you

@Keithdotson

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the nice comment!

Big Jack Johnson was my uncle may he rest his soul. His brother Super chicken, Uncle Geno Tucker all played the blues. My uncle big jack perfomed all over the world band name Big Jack Johnson & The Oillers because unc use to work for the oil company years back before he got famous in blues. He has alot of paintings & murals around town in memory of him. U can vist his grave at maclarren cemetery on hwy 61. Zz top and alot of famous people was at my uncle's funeral at Coahoma Community College. We have a apartment complex named after him on 61 as well. He was friend w morgan freeman and alot of people. My aunt and some of his children and grandchildren are still back home. I miss the times uc use to play on the porch and we dance to the tune of tge guitar. I said one day unc how u do what u do w the guitar my unc said you have a special relationship with the instrument u find thats ment for you and the guitar will talk when u pluck the strings. You and the guitar connect and it plays how you feel and the way u want your soul to speak to the music and reaching the people soul. Thats how u play the blues. Soul expression. You want to do a story on my uncle feel free to contact me and we can get something cooking.

@Keithdotson

3 ай бұрын

I love the idea of doing a story about him with all the memories and details you still have.

It was a wonderful school. Heart breaking to see it now or whenever I go back there.

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

I hope it can be saved but it may already be too late

"A direct connection to the past, even if it's in ruins". That says it all ! By the way, that last image of the old warehouse with the jet flying over...that's a golden shot. As always...stay safe.

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks George -- I'm partial to that old warehouse shot too! I was hoping the airplane would read well enough on video. I appreciate the support.

Graduated from CHS in 1993 in this building. Senior tradition was to throw freshmen into the graveyard. Also the marking in the concrete has a pitchfork symbol in it that is the tag of a gang. Many came from Chicago to Memphis to Clarksdale. There used to be many factories in that area that provided work but they shut down in the 2000's. The town has just gone downhill from there. Blues tourism has been its only saving Grace.

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the information! I hope the town manages to turn it around.

@RickJsurge

3 жыл бұрын

Me too but not many hold out hope. When we left in the late 90's the crime was bad there. Your video shows building on 4th street. My dad and family lived in that area growing up but by the time I was old enough to drive, you couldn't even drive down those streets for fear of been shot at. I have friends who live there that post videos of them laying in the floor of their homes because people just drive down streets shooting into homes. It breaks my heart. Thank you for the video. Even though it's run down, it brings back good memories of growing up. God bless.

10:15: My mother worked there for years.

Saw my first movie “Blacula” at the New Roxy.

Born & Raised here the 🧱 Brick Yard BBY

@gregg.380

2 жыл бұрын

me 2 lived on Garfield st.

Wow! So much abandoned! We could spend a month there 🤣 great video 👍

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

Barely scratching the surface! Thanks for the support!

Treasure town❤❤❤Nova Constanța România

I lived just down the street from smitty’s

I bet there's lots of ghost stories around Clarksdale and the Delta in general. I love the black and white photos. They accent the bleakness in a way color does not.

@Keithdotson

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! And I'll bet you're right Delta ghost stories! Would make a great series!

Across the street from the school was another 3 story building that was part of the high school. It also housed the JR High band room . That band room was built over the top of a defunct pool. You could go into a closet and lift a trap door that went down in to the pool. There was also a large auditorium in that building with a balcony. The building with the smokestack was the maintenance building. The second floor housed the Senior High Band room.

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

I appreciate the new information

@mikepowell7938

2 жыл бұрын

you talking about Oakhurst 👌🏾

@RickJsurge

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikepowell7938 For sure!

Great photos and footage, thanks for posting!

@Keithdotson

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Graduated from Coahoma Agricultural”Aggie” High School

The Greyhound is my family station the Howard's, and the Amtrak

@Keithdotson

2 жыл бұрын

That Greyhound station is amazing

I am also a photographer so we can also collaborate for another projects as well. Juke joint festival coming up for 2024. Big Jack Johnson & The Oillers Legacy Documentary or something

Big jack johnson first cousins with my father. I worked in same hospital as his wife Annette. Spent many days at his home

@Keithdotson

Жыл бұрын

That is amazing! I’m envious

@shirleymorris6288

Жыл бұрын

Their mothers are sisters

Well done, Keith.... but so very depressing. I felt nauseous watching. I finished h.s. in 1968... hard to fathom such decline.

I was in the men’s bathroom at Smitty’s one night, taking a leak. I was peeing in a metal trough kinda thing, wearing sandals. I felt my feet getting wet. The “urinal” had no drain pipe. Everything went right down to the floor and onto your feet! 🙀🙀🙀

@Keithdotson

6 ай бұрын

What!?!? Yuck! 😝😂

Hi Keith. Was wondering what time of day did you shoot this & what day of the week.

@Keithdotson

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Debbie -- It was shot early in the morning on a Saturday. I can't say specifically what time, but the well before noon.

@msdeltalady

3 жыл бұрын

@@Keithdotson TY

My family birth place

I went to school there it sure was a whole lot better then than it is now If only if the walls could talk ....I guess things just have to go the way to go looks like somebody would try to do something with the place and clean it up make something out of it but if you look at Clarksdale they made nothing out of it but the Blues they need some people to come in there and generate some new businesses if they want that town to be popular for the blues do something else for it fire escape was not stairs but , a tunnel sliding sliding escape out the other side is across the street from the Bobo building that you're looking at with a graveyard is Bobo High School that's what the 1st name was for the school brother graduated there also very said to see like this, We had some good times there

Bin there done that

Bro i live in clarksdale yall do not wanna live here 😢

Clarksdale also excelled in what is erronrously called "classical" music. I was raised in Mississippi.

@mikejohn0088

Жыл бұрын

sorry.

Welcome to the CROSS ROADS where you sell your soul for momentary fame and shame for an eternity of pain in the flame.

"So called" implies that you doubt the legitimacy of the claim, where else would the birthplace of blues be then?

@Keithdotson

Жыл бұрын

No not all all. You misinterpreted my meaning

Clarksdale and no crossroads come on now

@Keithdotson

Жыл бұрын

Too commercial for my photography!

I want to thank you personally for your hard work dedication energy and time for putting this video together and given the a little bit history of clarksdale Ms 🫱🏾‍🫲🏻

@Keithdotson

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for the nice message! I love that part of the world and I hope it comes through

@TheBluesmanBlue

10 ай бұрын

@@Keithdotson if them billionaires, up north find it in their hearts clarksdale, Mississippi to make their way there from what you have shown it will make a good tourist area the only one that’s not afraid to come to Clarksdale and put his money there is Hollywood star Mr Morgan Freeman I love what you doing.