Farming By Hand
The earliest farming implements used in Louisiana were simple tools. Before tractors and other mechanized farm equipment changed the way people picked cotton, workers spent long hours in the hot Louisiana sun, chopping with hoes and digging with shovels. For cotton farmers in northeastern Louisiana, the years between 1900 and 1941 were generally marked by hardship because of the depressed cotton economy. As local historian Georgia Payne Durham Pinkston noted in the late 1970s, "one money crop was produced [locally] and that was cotton.” Low commodity prices, periodic flooding, and labor problems had plagued the local cotton industry during the post-Civil War era, but greater challenges awaited in he early twentieth century.
With the beginning of World War I (1914), Louisiana cotton farmers temporarily lost their European markets and prices plunged to 5 cents a pound. Following America's entry into the conflict, the federal government encouraged farmers to maximize agricultural productivity for the United States' war effort. The result, following the end of hostilities in November 1918, was a huge glut in commodities. This produced a regional depression that gripped the Deep South throughout the 1920s. The local economic stagnation was compounded by the devastation wrought by the 1927 flood and the onset of
this page online
Photo caption
A labor force carrying hoes returning home after a long day in the fields (above)
A boy transporting water in a cart to workers in the fields (left).
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Agriculture.
Location. 32° 49.043′ N, 91° 12.573′ W. Marker is in Lake Providence, Louisiana, in East Carroll Parish. Marker can be reached from U.S. 65, half a mile south of Schrock Road, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7162 US-65, Lake Providence LA 71254, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Farming With Plows (here, next to this marker); The Barn (here, next to this marker); Gin Office (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Hood Home Plantation (about 400 feet away); Lake Providence Confederate Monument (approx. 1˝ miles away); Soldiers' Rest (approx. 1.6 miles away); Battle for the Mississippi: The Vicksburg Campaign (approx. 2.2 miles away); Grant's March Through Louisiana (approx. 2.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lake Providence.
More about this marker. Located on the grounds
Credits. This page was last revised on April 9, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 9, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 144 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 9, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.
