Near Hardy in Franklin County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Curing Tobacco

— Booker T. Washington National Monument —

Photographed by Tom Bosse, July 5, 2026

1. Curing Tobacco Marker

Inscription. Tobacco farmers used barns such as this to cure dark-leaf tobacco used for chewing tobacco. The tobacco plant was harvested in late August or early September, split down the middle, and hung upside down on sticks that were placed across poles inside the barn. Professional “tobacco curers” who were hired out to farms tended small fires that slowly dried out the leaves, which remained hanging until the following spring.

There were three tobacco barns onsite during the period of Booker T. Washington’s enslavement. This barn contains original logs and was likely repositioned and rebuilt by the Robertson family in the 1980s after they purchased the farm from the Burroughs family. In 2023, the National Park Service completed a historic preservation project to install a new roof and replace several disintegrated logs.

(captions)
Three to five acres of tobacco were grown annually. The Burroughs relied on slaves to cultivate the labor-intensive crop. Unexpected conditions, such as pests, hail, and wind, could easily destroy a tobacco crop and affect the lives of the families who lived on the plantation, both free and enslaved.

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wagon hauled the tobacco from the field to the barn to be housed to cure. Careful attention was used in handling the plants so the leaves would not be damaged.

Erected by National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Agriculture.

Location. 37° 6.982′ N, 79° 43.816′ W. Marker is near Hardy, Virginia, in Franklin County. It can be reached from Booker T Washington Highway (Virginia Route 122) 0.2 miles east of Lost Mountain Road ( Route 636), on the right when traveling east. Loacted along the Jack-O-Lantern Branch Heritage National Recreation Trail. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 12130 Booker T Washington Hwy, Hardy VA 24101, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southern Virginia.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory

Photographed by Tom Bosse, July 5, 2026

2. Curing Tobacco Marker

of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Jack-O-Lantern Branch Trail (a few steps from this marker); "No period of my life … was devoted to play" (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Day of Freedom (about 700 feet away); Animals for Food and Farm Work (approx. 0.2 miles away); Booker's Lifelong Love of Animals (approx. 0.2 miles away); An Enduring Mystery (approx. 0.2 miles away); Slavery in the Tobacco Kingdom (approx. 0.2 miles away); "On behalf of the United States" (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hardy.

Other markers no longer nearby. Carry Me Home (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been permanently removed); Freed Here, At Last (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); How Tobacco Farms Used Slavery (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); The Landscape of Slavery (was approx.

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¼ mile away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Slavery on the Plantation (was approx. ¼ mile away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Also see . . . Booker T. Washington National Monument. National Park Service (Submitted on August 4, 2026.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 4, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 2, 2026, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 2, 2026, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.