by Dona & Jerry Locklair

Native Americans farmed tobacco for centuries before the first Europeans arrived.    Tobacco was the first cash crop European Americans exported back to Europe.    Tobacco export profits were critical to the financial stability of the early colonists.   Tobacco is grown from Florida to the New England states and out to Ohio and into Canada.   This painting is a scene of an old tobacco warehouse auction.   The farmers brought their tobacco to market for auction and returned home with hard earned money that was a vital part of the economy.