July 2025 – SGA Mostly Mississippi 2026

Charcoal Roads

AutosJuly 28, 20250Comments 0Likes

So what the heck are charcoal roads?

Basically asphalt made with coal tar, a cancer-causing by-product of coal processing. It is still widely used in India. Besides killing people, It cracks a lot.

This is the Cliffs Notes on Mississippi roads:

Road Tax

The same year Mississippi became a state (1817, if you care), a tax based on 5 percent of public land sales was created to build roads and canals.

Cotton Roads

The rise of cotton as a money crop, around 1850, accelerated road construction. Panola County in the Delta, built a charcoal road. It was a bit of a disaster. However, it is very cool to see how one was uncovered inadvertently in 1936. If you have 24 minutes, watch this. Watch it anyhow, as it has so many great pictures.

Plank Road

So, the charcoal road was replaced by a plank road, used for nearly 50 years! If you have been to California, there is a teeny tiny piece of plank road that is a Historic Place.

Rules of the Road

In 1856, carraiges had to drive on the right and at a speed no more than a fast walk on bridges. That pretty much continued, as cars had not landed in Mississippi or almost anywhere else. Land tax was levied at 1 cent to 5 cents an acre for more roads and bridges.

That Pesky Civil War

No more railroads. Road-roads damaged by heavy traffic.

20 Autos

In 1900, the entire state of Mississippi had 20 automobiles, but the amount grew crazy fast. Yuk, dirt and gravel.

Good Roads Movement

In 1913, roads were so bad, that a movement calling for better roads was created. Think about what this means for our Ghosts.

Mississippi Hot Shots

The first paved road in the south was built in northeastern Mississippi after checking them out in Michigan. Show offs. In 1914, a contract for 49 miles of “good roads” was let, and one concrete road was constructed for $8,100 per mile.

Gas Tax

Imposed by the feds. One cent per gallon. Budgeted $200 per mile of road, a bit ambitious, don’t ya think? 100 road machines were purchased.

Depression

No money for roads.

Now you know.

Black Vomit

Now You KnowJuly 17, 20250Comments 0Likes

When you have Yellow Fever, you probably have black vomit. It is black because it contains blood and other yucky things. Why is it called yellow fever, we do not know.

What we do know is that an enormous amount of people in the Mississippi Valley were killed by it in 1878. Bad timing. Emancipation was just a decade earlier. Over half of the victims were Black.

When some Cubans were fleeing the Spanish Revolution or whatever (no points off if you do not care, are annoyed you even have to read this, and will definitely not remember this), came to New Orleans. While quarantine was pretty effective, a non-compliant riverboat caption brought it on up north. His kids got it.

Now, yellow fever spread up the Mississippi River all the way to Memphis. Over half of the citizens of Memphis took off, but the good old boys in country towns staved them off with guns. Really.

In the end 20,000 people were killed by yellow fever, just from pretty much from Natchez to Memphis. To put that in perspective, the entire population of Memphis was a little over 47,000.

The dead cannot be buried fast enough and rows of coffins line the Court House lawn in ghastly waiting for the ghastlier bodies. The ministers are ill of fever. There are not enough hearses. The bodies go to the cemetery in wagons and are buried by members of the family, if they still survive. All day, all night the dead are buried. The only sound, other than those in the cemetery, to shatter the stillness of the night, is the dismal howling of dogs, making a gruesome requiem for the dead.
William Holland, dispatch from September 26th, 1878

The breakout began when Cubans were fleeing the Spanish Revolution and came to New Orleans. While quarantine was pretty effective, a non-compliant riverboat caption brought it on up north. His kids got it, too.

It was eventually figured out that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitos. Netting, not masks. Take that, COVID.

This is a nice and short explanation of what happened narrative by a lovely young articulate woman. Worth watching.

Yellowhammer

Now You KnowJuly 30, 20250Comments 0Likes

A yellowhammer is not a tool, even for a Ghost. A yellowhammer has been the State Bird of Alabama since 1927. Consider that some states have no birds at all, this is pretty good.

But we do not care too much about the state bird of Alabama. We care about the state bird of Mississippi, and wouldn’t ya know it, Mississippi is not original in its selection.

The state bird of Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas (and Mississippi) is the northern mockingbird. As far as I know, all those states were in the south. Whatever.

Anyhow, the Latin name of mockingbird is Mimus polyglottos meaning many-tongued mimic. We believe that is why many states mimic their official birds. It is said that they have over 200 songs, so there is plenty of room for more southern states to adopt the northern mockingbird.