The 1930s were a particularly difficult time, especially for rural Missourians. The Great Depression, locusts, grasshoppers, and drought made things difficult for almost everyone. Many of the homes where families lived during that time were temporary shacks, overcrowded, simple, and basic. Let’s take a visual trip back in time and visit some of these homes.
1. Boon County
This three-room house near Ashland was part of the University of Missouri game and arboretum project.
2. Ozarks
Interior of Ozarks cabin housing six people. May 1936
3. Mississippi County
A sharecropper's family. May 1936
4. New Madrid County
Sharecropper family on front porch of cabin. May 1938
5. New Madrid County
Entrance to attic of sharecropper cabin. May 1938
6. Osage
House without windows, home of sharecropper cut-over farmers of Mississippi bottoms. May 1938
7. New Madrid County
Southeast Missouri Farms. Sharecropper family with a pet bird in their shack home. La Forge project, 1938
8. New Madrid County
Southeast Missouri Farms. Client and wife in the living room of their new home. La Forge project, May 1938
9. Pemiscot County
Typical dwelling in "Tin Town." Caruthersville, August 1938
10. Pemiscot County
Recently constructed homes in Caruthersville. They are very flimsy, consist of two rooms and are elevated to take care of a possible rise of the Mississippi River. August 1938
11. Pemiscot
Bedroom in the home of a sharecropper who will later work under the tenant purchase program. Near Caruthersville, August 1938
12. Pemiscot County
Resident of Tin Town sitting at her kitchen table. Caruthersville, August 1938
13. Pemiscot County
Shack on the other side of the railroad tracks, looking toward the levee. Part of "Tin Town." Caruthersville, August 1938
14. Jackson
Home of member of Bois d'Arc cooperative who took care of beef cattle. Osage Farms, November 1939
15. Jackson
A group of homes located near the dairy farms on Bois d'Arc Cooperative farm. The same well and pump that furnished water for the barns served to supply the homes. Osage Farms, November 1939
16. Washington County
Tiff miners lived in poor houses. November 1939
17. Washington County
Wife and children of a tiff miner. November 1939
18. Washington County
One of the eight houses built by the Farm Security Administration to provide adequate shelters for tiff miners. November 1939.
19. Washington County
A tiff miner's home in paw-paw patch. November 1939.
20. Butler County
Evicted sharecroppers construct a cabin. November 1939.
21. Butler County
More cabins built by evicted sharecroppers. November 1939.
22. Butler County
Another home of an evicted sharecropper. November 1939.
23. Butler County
Another cabin of evicted sharecropper. November 1939.
Was your family in this area in the 1930’s? What was their experience? Do you have any family photos from that time? Share in the comments below.
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