Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
October 1939. "Tourist court in Clarksdale, Mississippi Delta. Everything is named 'cotton boll' in the Delta." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size.
Mildly surprised to find out it's been gone for twenty or so years.
That is one high-class motel for the Depression-era South. It would have been hard to find one any nicer in the '50s.
I recently came across a snapshot in a family photo album that had the words "cotton ball courts" scribbled on the reverse. Thanks to Shorpy, I now know where Anna "Ma" Zott of Center Line, Michigan stayed overnight during a May 1941 road trip.
"That new 49/61 intersection became known as 'the crossroads' to the citizens of Clarksdale. ... In the space of four years, the intersection point of two new highways had blossomed into a vibrant neighborhood named for the intersection. Assisting that transformation was Cotton Boll Court, a multiunit motor court just off the southeast corner. ... Remembered by several elderly Clarksdalians as an important fixture at the crossroads, it eventually burned down."
-- From "Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition" by Adam Gussow.
Today:
From misspreservation.com:
Cotton Boll Court, Hiways 61 and 49, Clarksdale, Mississippi. Innerspring Mattresses–Tile Bath–Shower over tub–Insulated–Gas Heat–Garages–Telephones. S.H. Kyle, Owner. Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Wilkinson, Managers.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5