Date Visited: 4/6/2019
As times change, people become more healthy, and the use of Tobacco may some day become just another part of history, I wonder if people will remember places like this and the long family histories that made these small early 20th century farms such a vital part of our history.
The tobacco farm you see here was owned by the Greenfield family for over 100 years before being sold to the State of Tennessee in 1977 and thus becoming another historic stop along the Natchez Trace Parkway.
In 1932 Mr. Greenfield first grew tobacco on the farm. The barn you see today was erected in 1959.
The Greenfield farm grew Burley tobacco, a tobacco mainly used for cigarettes although a small portion is used as pipe and chewing tobacco.
Each acre of Burley tobacco requires about 250 hours of labor. That is quite a bit considering wheat requires about three!
Once harvested the tobacco is hung to air-cure in barns like these for four to six weeks before it is ready for market.
Each year a small field of tobacco is planted, harvested, and air-cured and a portion of tobacco is left in the barn for travelers to see.
To the right of the barn is the beginning of a two mile stretch of the Old Natchez Trace. The road is one-way and partially dirt. RV’s are not permitted, but you can leave your RV at the Tobacco Farm parking lot and walk or bike all or a portion of the drive. The drive does not loop back around, so you will have to return to your vehicle by retracing the road or walking south along the Natchez Trace Parkway. If you are not in an RV you can drive the full length of the road until it meets back up with the parkway.
It’s a pretty little drive but there is not much to see. We enjoyed it just for the feeling of being submerged in the forest and the occasional white-tailed deer sighting.
The dirt section of the road is a typical country road, with potholes, ruts and a little bit of wash boarding but is easy enough to drive using any standard equipped vehicle as long as you observed the posted speed and watch out for those deer.
On our next stop we hit another beautiful waterfall stop and this time I go for it and take the steep little trail down to the falls and back up again!
Until next week… take care and enjoy the journey.
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