ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL HISTORY BEFORE 1950

Alabama Agriculture History Before 1950

• European and African settlement was delayed until the Native Americans were moved out or forced out.

• Original European and African settlement was in the best farmland in the valleys, along the Black Belt and near Huntsville.

• Later settlement moved into the smaller northern valleys and hills, mostly by small scale white farmers of Scots-Irish descent.

• By 1920, pretty much all land was densely settled and farmed

• The northern areas were in small farms, on sandy soil, with mixed forest cover and pastureland, and with a long tradition of animal raising. Chicken farming later developed here.

Early Alabama Population Distribution, 1820

Later Alabama Population Distribution, 1860

Early Alabama Farm Distribution, 1850

Later Alabama Farm Distribution, 1950

Table of Alabama Cropland 1850-1950