Most people after the Civil War did not own land.
- Black people, freed with nothing but their own labor, had no resources to buy land.
- Many poor white people had never owned land. Others lost their land, unable to compete with wealthier landowners.
This map of Durham County, circa 1910, shows where landowners and tenants lived. Can you find the tenant farmer houses? They are indicated by + signs.
Courtesy David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Who owned land?
Durham County was still largely farmland well into the 1900s. According to the 1875 tax rolls, the majority of people in the county did not own land.
Data source: Orange County tax rolls, 1875
The Keith family, sharecroppers, in front of their home near Old Bethel Church in Wake County, 1911
Courtesy State Archives of North Carolina
Most people after the Civil War did not own land.
- Black people, freed with nothing but their own labor, had no resources to buy land.
- Many poor white people had never owned land. Others lost their land, unable to compete with wealthier landowners.
This map of Durham County, circa 1910, shows where landowners and tenants lived. Can you find the tenant farmer houses? They are indicated by + signs.
Courtesy David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Who owned land?
Durham County was still largely farmland well into the 1900s. According to the 1875 tax rolls, the majority of people in the county did not own land.
Data source: Orange County tax rolls, 1875
