Tobacco Barn

Originally located off the Leasburg Road and donated to the Museum by Marilyn Christopher, this building is technically a pack barn. Buildings like this were used in the early days of tobacco growing to store the tobacco after curing and to serve as a place for grading the leaves, tying the leaves into bundles and preparing it to go to market (note the grading bench, tobacco bundle and woven tobacco flat.)

The building has been adapted to show the curing process as well.  

Tobacco leaves were strung on a tobacco stick, placed on rafters (tier poles) in the tobacco barn and from the heat generated in a flue, which would have entered the barn on one side and stoked from the outside, the leaves were dried or cured over a period for up to six days and nights.  

Note the tobacco seed scale, an important piece of equipment used to weigh the highly valuable tobacco seed.  

Text and illustrations displayed in the barn are by Sara Norris and show the process of tobacco manufacturing from the field to the auction house.