Sweet Potato House

Sweet Potato House. . The Sweet Potato House was used to store or “cure” sweet potatoes until it was time to take them to market. Curing converts some of the starches into sugars, improves flavor, toughens skins and prolongs storage life., The building was heated by a wood and coal-burning stove under the floor, which was raised up off the ground. During curing, the sweet potatoes were stored in slotted bushel crates to allow warm air to circulate around them. The upper windows in the ceiling may have allowed the hot air to escape., The building you see here was moved from the Williams farm located near the present-day intersection of Floyd and Nickajack Roads. This sweet potato house was reported to be a communal storage building so the Mable family may have shared space here with neighboring farmers., According to the 1850 and 1860 Agricultural Censuses, Robert Mable grew between 60 and 100 bushels of sweet potatoes each year., From the 1860 Georgia Agricultural Census , Robert Mable , Acres of improved land - 230 , Acres of unimproved land - 410 , Cash value of farm - $3840. , Value of farm implements and machinery - $400. , Value of livestock - $1380., [Captions] , . (Left) Sweet Potato Vines , . (Right) Sweet Potatoes after digging and before drying.