VIDALIA, La. &045; The sign says the MLK car wash is open, but everything around it disagrees. Don’t bother calling, the phone number is disconnected.

Like two of the other three corners of the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and John Dale Drive in Vidalia, there are few remnants of what used to be a thriving social and economic hub.

Johnny Vantree remembers when this part of town used to be know as Bucktown.

He sits under a pair of towering pecan trees with his cards and plays the role of local historian.

There was a grocery store, which turned into a gas station before it became the car wash. The laundry mat across the street turned into a tire shop before it, too, gave up the ghost. The house right behind Vantree was once a club. There were clubs up and down the street. &uot;It was a busy street,&uot; Vantree said. &uot;Now there ain’t nothin’ there.&uot;

Allen Lewis, a forklift operator who lives across Martin Luther King Drive, remembers that the clubs used to spawn a lot of fights.

He remembers someone getting shot in front of the laundry mat on the corner. &uot;It’s much quieter now; I like it like this,&uot; Lewis said.

Vantree disagreed.

&uot;He was a kid when everything was flush,&uot; Vantree said. &uot;He wouldn’t remember. His father used to have a pressing shop right over next to where he lives.&uot;

The clubs are silent, but the streets are noisy nonetheless, at least on Vantree’s side of the street. Traffic &045; motorcycle and pedestrian &045; keep him up.

&uot;They walk all night. They walk all night,&uot; he said. &uot;But they talk like it’s daylight.&uot;

Though he doubts it will happen in his lifetime, Vantree said he will call if the area gets back on its feet, &uot;so you can come take pictures of Bucktown Relived.&uot;