Architecture

In the United States the landscape of the southern countryside was vitally influenced by tobacco. Consequently, the very buildings that supported the industry became integral components of the American landscape. While many of these buildings have long ago disappeared as tobacco's economic clout has waned, remnants of this unique architecture still remain.

Landscape

The fundamental architecture of tobacco, of course, is the natural landscape, which contains the tobacco crop itself. Usually no more than an acre, these fields see the greenish leaf mature throughout the summer before stripping in the fall.

Beyond the natural borders were a series of buildings that together constituted a common staple to those involved in tobacco production. Because of the labor-intensive nature of tobacco production, and the fact that so many growers were tenant farmers, the houses of growers were little more than hastily constructed shacks. These small houses were simple, square and rectangular homes with pitched roofs and minimal adornment and saw little in the way of paint or modern conveniences. Families came and went in these houses, which almost always rested on the plot of tobacco they raised, and the houses were often in need of extensive repair. They were excessively hot and humid in the summer, while the poor construction of the homes allowed for cold drafts to penetrate the walls throughout the winter. While not normally associated with the acres of tobacco that dotted the southern landscape, the houses of countless farmers served as a certain respite from their daily toils.

Barns

Much better known than landscape features are the tobacco barns, which were central to the curing and storing of the crop before taking it to market. Barns were built with function in mind; since so many Burley barns were air-cooled, ample ventilation was essential. In many cases, barns were built by farmers and their neighbors, adding to the sense of community in the tobacco fields. Since the design was rather simple, they could be constructed by experienced farm hands within days.

Barns had considerable interior room for hanging and curing tobacco. With a sturdy foundation, the rectangular barns were almost always finished with wooden planks with shutters and ventilators. The planks were rarely painted, but in some Burley areas they were stained with a durable black tar mixture. Roofing was often tin, although asphalt was used in the more modern barns. Surrounding the barns were sheds or other buildings used to house tools or to strip tobacco as it came from the fields. These outlying sheds could also be used to store the seedlings in the early spring before transplanting. The tobacco barn was nonetheless the central aspect of the local farm community, and when not used for curing tobacco it could also be used as a dance hall or as a place where neighbors might come together for a variety of functions.

Since a good deal of tobacco was fire-cured, the barns that contained the small fires with the hanging crop were veritable tinderboxes, and without constant supervision, were likely to catch on fire at a moment's notice. Burned-out barns, unfortunately, also became a relic of the tobacco culture.

Warehouses

Tobacco warehouses were vast colorless and windowless edifices located in the cities and towns along the tobacco market. These structures were often large enough to house a football field or two and were no more than a single story tall. Many surviving warehouses have aluminum siding, with no windows and slightly pitched roofs. In order to generate some ventilation, large fans would sometimes be placed in the upper reaches of the building. Inside, the creaky wooden floors were broken only by the timbers supporting the roof. Throughout the year, the constant aroma of loose-leaf tobacco would waft throughout the buildings and the surrounding areas.

Today, many warehouses are vacant and in disrepair. In some areas, such as Durham, North Carolina, the old warehouses have been remodeled to house modern shopping centers and restaurants. In other areas, these empty dinosaurs sometimes see tobacco come in the late fall, but are often used for flea markets, or by antique dealers, wholesale distributors, and building suppliers.

The architecture associated with tobacco thus stands as a certain symbol of what the crop meant for countless people in the industry—a world of constant work and worry, with the ever-present dread of bad weather or bad prices always present.

See Also Plantations; Processing.

? TRACY CAMPBELL

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raitz, Karl B. "Tobacco Barns and Sheds." In Allan G. Noble and Hubert G. H. Wilhelm, eds., Barns of the Midwest. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995.

Willigan, John van, and Susan C. Eastwood. Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky's Burley Belt. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.

stripping in the Burley and fire-cured tobacco cultures, cured leaves must be separated from the dead stalk. This is called "stripping."

tenant farmers landless farmers who rented acreage from landowners. The tenant family usually moved to a house on the rented land where they lived and worked. The rental was payable in cash or sometimes a specified amount of produce. The tenant often owned draft animals and implements and had established credit. Tenants were typically more independent than share-croppers and occupied a higher place in the hierarchy of rural America.

tar a residue of tobacco smoke, composed of many chemical substances that are collectively known by this term.