These 7 Rare Photos Show Illinois' Farming History Like Never Before
By Elizabeth Crozier|Published March 10, 2018
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Elizabeth Crozier
Author
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
Even before Illinois was officially a state, farms and fields were set up all across our land. Our relationship with planting the soil and harvesting it is documented in these 10 rare photos you have to see. To truly understand this state, you have to go back and take a look at our farming history.
Scroll on to uncover images from the past that will show scenes from the state’s farming industry over time. Check them out:
1. This image was taken in 1900 in Mount Morris after a huge storm tore through the area and destroyed many farms and homes.
5. A different type of farming, the meat packing industry in Chicago feeds the nation just like our crops do. This is a photograph of the Union Stock Yards taken in 1947.
7. Also taken in 1948 in Roanoke, you can see a farmer taking care of his property in this shot. He has a couple barns, a silo, and more land than one person alone could possibly need.