Burley was the dominant strain of tobacco in Appalachia, rather than the bright leaf grown in the East. For over 10,000 small farmers in 20 counties in Western NC, tobacco provided an essential income supplement. Whole families worked in the tobacco fields, from setting the plants in Spring to marketing the cured leaf in late Fall and early Winter.
Some of the most iconic images of WNC are the fields of teepee-looking stacks of tobacco stalks and the large open barns where tobacco was hung to air cure. After several weeks of curing, it was packed onto baskets and loaded for market.
No other crop has been as important to the economy and culture of Western NC, but few mountain farms produce tobacco these days. Finding substitute crops to replace the lost income has been a challenge, and farmers still growing tobacco generally have contracts with tobacco companies rather than relying on the auction market. Little remains of the once thriving burley industry save antique stores selling tobacco baskets for $200 each!
In the day, up to 700 pounds of burley would be packed onto each of the baskets. This 1952 photo shows locally grown tobacco being loaded for market in Johnson City, TN. On the truck are Frank Griffith and Earnest Davis, while Ed Davis is standing on the ground. Griffith and his brother-in-law Farrell Tipton were partners in a store at Tipton Hill, still operating as Griffith and Son.
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