Monthly Archive: February 2023

Purchase Print

An old Kentucky Tobacco Barn found west of Maysville, in a farmer’s field. At one time tobacco was one of the main industries in the state, and as late as the 1920’s it was the country largest producer of tobacco. Today it remains the largest producer of burley and dark tobacco and a distant second in production by state, behind North Carolina. But as most know, due to health concerns and changing life styles of America, it is a largely dying industry. And this barn, aged and crumbling reflects a changing of the times.

One interesting question often asked about these barns is why are they are almost all black. The black color more effectively traps the heat of the sun, which helps in the drying of the tobacco leaves. And creosote, from which the black color comes, was readily available to farmers.