America's golden age of tobacco in old photographs (with images)

Lynchburg has a long history in American tobacco history.

In 1785, John Lynch, the founder of this mountain city, built his first tobacco leaf warehouse here. Just a year after the Civil War ended, Lynchburg became the world's largest loose leaf tobacco trading market. The dark-fired tobacco grown and sold in central Virginia was harvested in the late fall after being fire-cured. During this time, the tobacco leaf warehouses in downtown Lynchburg were filled with buyers, tobacco farmers, and bales of tobacco leaves.

However, as smoking became less popular and the demand for tobacco industry declined, the tobacco leaf warehouses in Lynchburg eventually closed. The last "surviving" warehouse, known as the New Farm Warehouse, located on the eastern section of U.S. Route 460, also closed in 1996.

In November 1959, William Woolger, a tobacco farmer from Moneta, proudly showed off his 5-year-old son, Bailey Woolger, who helped transport dark-fired tobacco to Lynchburg.

On August 16, 1979, workers on a Virginia tobacco farm took a break in the shade, sitting on a truck loaded with freshly harvested tobacco leaves.

The only known information about this photo is that it was taken on August 14, 1959.

On December 18, 1870, A.C. Reynolds, the supervisor of tobacco leaf re-drying, inspected the quality of the re-dried tobacco after processing it for half an hour in a pipeline that extended half a block behind him.

In 1897, workers posed for a photo during a tobacco leaf auction in Lynchburg.

On December 18, 1970, three nearly 50-year-old workers at the Hermit Products factory were capping a large barrel of tobacco leaves, which would then be sent to the aging area.

On August 6, 1981, Lucas Nazareth was sealing packaged tobacco leaves he purchased, preparing to transport them to the "Golden Leaf Warehouse" located in Brookneal. Note the slogan behind him: "Proud of Tobacco."

On July 20, 1982, in Campbell County, Walter Bass drove a tractor through a tobacco field, while workers sprayed growth inhibitors on the tobacco plants.

On August 22, 1983, 7-year-old Kristi Kirby, 9-year-old Allen Kirby, and 9-year-old Danny Cassidy waited at the "Golden Leaf Tobacco Warehouse" for their parents who were selling tobacco.

http://www.eastobacco.com/pub/web/ycwh/ycwy/201608/