Another barn from deep in the archives, this one was photographed in 2010. I believe it collapsed a few years later, but cannot confirm at this time. It was located somewhere off Five Bridge Road and was notably larger than other tobacco barns I’ve documented in Irwin County.
Brian, it’s vitally important that these classic vernacular tobacco barns be documented so that future generations can try to better grasp how thousands of farmers in previous generations, and especially since the middle of the last century, but even now, could in good conscience grow a money crop that has caused so much suffering and death. I shudder to think what my health would be like today if I had not quit my pack-a-day cigarette addiction 40 years ago. Might not even be here now. Smoking was the stupidest and most willfully ignorant and dangerous thing I’ve ever done.
My parents smoked tobacco, as did many of their peers, back then. They just didn’t know the bad things tobacco would cause later on in life. Dumping industrial effluent into rivers and streams, likewise. No one realized that factory smokestack emissions would cause things like “acid rain” until the results became clearer. “Miner’s lung disease”; lead piping and paint; asbestos insulation — the list is long. We just didn’t know then what we know now.
Glad you quit!
What is the purpose of that large rectangular block on the roof?