The Tobacco Farm Life Museum
Preserving a Heritage & Celebrating a Way of Life

For more than a hundred years, tobacco production was the driving force of North Carolina’s rural economy and culture. In the late 1800s, most of the state’s residents farmed for a living, and tobacco was the most important crop grown. Today, while tobacco remains an important part of agriculture, declines in production and the rise of new industries have overshadowed the crop’s importance to both farm life and economic opportunity for the state’s rural residents.

In recognition that the history of tobacco farming is also a history of our state, the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has supported much-needed improvements for the Tobacco Farm Life Museum in Kenly. 

“The Tobacco Trust Fund believes, as we do, that the tradition of tobacco farm culture is going to be lost if we don’t work to preserve it,” says museum director Lynn Wagner. “We are preserving and celebrating our heritage. At the same time, we’re educating future generations about why tobacco cultivation was so important as an integral part of our culture.”

Located on five acres of pinewood forest, the museum includes a 6,000-square-foot gallery and an entire farmstead, dating from the late 1880s, that’s been relocated to the museum grounds. Exhibits from all aspects of farm life in the late-19th and early-20th centuries are displayed, including household goods, rural medicine, clothing and agricultural tools. A Children’s Heritage Exhibit encourages hands-on involvement with elements of farm heritage, including toys, books, clothing, games and other activities. 

Evoking the authentic feel of a traditional tobacco farm, the Iredell Brown Farmstead restoration includes the farm’s original two-room dwelling, a later-built four-room house, a barn and other outbuildings. The restored farmstead kitchen is furnished just as it was during the early 20th century, and period artifacts throughout the farmstead allow visitors to view a slice of life typical of a traditional North Carolina family farm.

Each year, the museum hosts about 16,000 visitors. Museum staff and volunteers also give presentations at area schools, farm shows and other cultural events in the region.

In working to preserve a record of traditional farm culture, the museum also has amassed an impressive collection of photographs, farm journals and other written documents, such as old tobacco warehouse receipts.

“The time period of our historical preservation dates from the 1880s, when tobacco started to become a really important part of our region’s culture,” says Wagner. “This was the time when income from tobacco started helping to build schools, churches and roads that made us who we are today.”

A personal and special history

The museum was started in 1983 by a group of local families who had pride in their past and a strong volunteer spirit. Having seen the way of life of their parents and grandparents becoming obsolete, these families wanted to preserve this personal and special history of the Eastern North Carolina flue-cured tobacco farm family for future generations.

“We made the decision to start preserving traditional tobacco culture before it totally becomes history,” Wagner affirms.

The museum’s development was part of an effort to get more people to stop in Kenly, says Wagner. When Interstate 95 was completed in the early 80s, the town was bypassed. Located about halfway between Wilson and Smithfield, this small Johnston County town had relied on steady business from passing traffic on Highway 301, which ran through the middle of town.

“Town leaders were very concerned that an important income stream was going to be lost,” says Wagner. “Folks started strategizing on ways we could get more people off the highway and into our town.”

The museum was built with donations from tobacco businesses – although this source of support since has ceased as a result of declines in production and the end of the tobacco quota and price-support system.  Today, as a small nonprofit organization not affiliated to state or local governments, the museum generally relies almost solely on fundraisers and individual donations.

Wagner says the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission came to the assistance of the museum at a critical time. The museum building was in sore need of improvements and repair. Staff members were in need of support to embark on new initiatives to promote and preserve the historical record. As a project designed to increase economic opportunity for the area, the museum was becoming a gateway for other agricultural and cultural tourism events in the county. Educational programming and marketing efforts were needed to bring more dollars into the local economy.

Preservation in the digital age

TTFC grant money has funded several important museum components. To ensure the future of the museum, facilities were upgraded to better preserve the artifacts and displays already established. The grant funded new gutters and siding for the museum building, purchased new computers and gave staff Internet access. Perhaps most importantly, the grant funded three new systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning that provide humidity and temperature control. Without such systems, Wagner says, fragile artifacts – including historical manuscripts, textiles and photographs – would otherwise decay in the humid Eastern North Carolina weather.

The commission’s grant also provided an opportunity to further develop programs and activities led by staff and the board of directors. Resources allowed Wagner to attend historical conferences and conventions to raise awareness of the museum’s importance. She was also able to devote time to working with East Carolina University on a digital history project, to put important historical documents and photographs online. At ECU’s Eastern Carolina Digital Library website, more than 50 museum artifacts from farm life – including cooking implements, farm tools and fabrics – are featured in video and audio presentations. (See artifacts from the Tobacco Farm Life Museum at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction.)

Wagner says she is amazed at how many calls and emails she gets from people who are writing books and researching family histories. In 2006, the museum helped The History Channel in producing an episode of “Empires of Industry,” about the rise of the tobacco industry. “Support from the Tobacco Trust Fund allows us to carry on this important service,” says Wagner.

An agritourism gateway

Kenly’s leaders recognized the potential for agricultural tourism years before it became fashionable. In the early years of the museum, volunteers found 10 tobacco farms that agreed to give tours to people who wanted to visit real working farms. The organizers received donations of time and money from local businesses and churches and gave farm tours as often as twice a day to townspeople and passers-by.

To create economic opportunities for the community, the museum continues to work with area farmers to arrange for farm tours. Wagner says that in 2007 the museum will start a program to bring busloads of guests from the Raleigh area to working farms in Johnston County, as well as to visit the museum.

“We think this can become very popular for families and schools in the larger urban areas of Raleigh, Cary and Garner,” she explains. “This will be our first year doing this, and we hope it will become a regular part of our activities.”

“We provide all the administrative support to arrange tour buses to visit area farms and experience farm life,” says Wagner. A typical tour bus holds 42 visitors, each of whom pays a $5 fee to visit a farm. For the average farm tour, $4 per person goes to farmers who host the tours.

“By providing this service,” says Wagner, “a farmer can make several hundred dollars for a few hours of his time, all while building up another income stream from tourism.” The museum also partners with the Johnston County Visitors Bureau to map out tourism trails that take visitors to area farms and the museum. “We are now trying to be an economic asset to farmers who want to diversify.”