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Triad Diary

Snapshot: Greensboro tobacco market

The News & Record has two main resources for old photos: A closet full of negatives and filing cabinets that hold mostly black-and-white prints. They are a gold mine for the historical, comical and just plain unusual moments in Greensboro’s history.

Each weekday in August, I’ll share a snap from the vault. There’s no rhyme or reason to the selections — they’re just photos that caught my eye. If you know more about what’s pictured, please share the details in the comments or e-mail me at michael.grossman@news-record.com.

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Opening day of a tobacco market in Greensboro in September 1969.

 
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Comments

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Andrew Brod

August 18, 2009 - 2:04 pm EDT

It would be useful and interesting if you could provide at least a little context for these photos. Not all of them will need it. For example, the photo of the Pinewood Derby probably speaks for itself. But not so with this one. You could tell us when the tobacco market operated, i.e. from 19__ through 19__. You could tell us who ran it. And so on. Otherwise, it's just a picture. Remember, not all pictures are worth 1000 words.

Diane

August 20, 2009 - 10:30 am EDT

According to Greensboro, A Chosen Center by Gail Fripp and Greensboro, North Carolina by Ethel Arnett, tobacco has been a commercial enterprise in Greensboro since the 1860s. 250,000 pounds of plug tobacco were manufactured in 1860. In 1882 the first tobacco warehouse was built; in 1883 the old Patriot newspaper office on Davie St. became a warehouse and in 1885 the Banner Warehouse on West Market St was built.

Arnett says that tobacco manufacturing ceased during the Civil War, but in the late nineteenth century there were 3 factories and 13 plants that prepared the tobacco leaf for further manufacturing. The raw plant came to Greensboro from Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina. The market covered several blocks and tobacco warehouses provided stalls for horses overnight while the farmers slept on the floor.

The News & Record text archive (search for free, but there is a fee to download the entire story) contains articles that mention the tobacco market shut down in the late 1920s and restarted in 1949 which ended the season with sales of 3.37 million pounds at an average of $44.53. With just a quick but not comprehensive search, 1958 was the latest date where I found reporting on the tobacco market in Greensboro. That doesn’t mean that the market stopped then or even that there are not more stories later. Our archive is digital only from 1990 and I used Jack Scism’s Remember When columns to search.
N&R News Librarian

Andrew Brod

August 25, 2009 - 10:39 am EDT

Thanks for the detailed info.

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