Along with forestry, agriculture is Alabama’s top industry. Approximately 82% of the state’s annual agricultural production comes from livestock production, while the remaining 18% comes from crops. Agriculture will always be a huge part of Alabama’s economy.

From the early to mid-1900s, agriculture in Alabama was very different from what it is today. Posted below are 15 rare photos that reflect just how different.

1. George Washington Carver is holding a large piece of soil while standing in the middle of an open field. (1906)
Library of Congress/Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer
2. James Drigger, of Coffee County, Alabama, is feeding his chickens alongside his wife and children. (August 1941)
Library of Congress/Collier, John, 1913-1992, photographer
3. This photo of a cotton farm in southwestern Alabama was snapped in the late 1930s.
Library of Congress/Lange, Dorothea, photographer
4. Mrs. Brown is seen here feeding her sows and pigs in Prairie Farms, Alabama. (March 1939)
Library of Congress/Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990, photographer
5. This image of an Alabama plow girl was captured near Eutaw, Alabama. (July 1936)
Library of Congress/Lange, Dorothea, photographer
6. A group of doffers is seen here taking a break from work in the Pell City Cotton Mill. (November 1910)
Library of Congress/Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer
7. Mr. Watkins, of Coffee County, Alabama, is seen here plowing his farm. (April 1939)
Library of Congress/Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990, photographer

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8. An Alabama tenant farmer near Anniston, Alabama is in deep thought as he's speaking to the other farmers. (July 1936)
Library of Congress/Lange, Dorothea, photographer
9. This photo of an Alabama cotton gin was snapped in Hale County during the summer of 1936.
Library of Congress/Evans, Walker, 1903-1975, photographer
10. Also during the summer of 1936, in Hale County, Lucille Burroughs is seen here picking cotton.
Library of Congress/Evans, Walker, 1903-1975, photographer
11. In Macon County, Alabama, Dave Lewis is cultivating cotton while aboard his tractor. (1940)
Library of Congress/A. A. A. photo No. 5007W by Harmon
12. This photo of a farmer's wife and children, alongside their pigs and chickens, was snapped in Pike County, Alabama during the late 1930s.
photogrammar/Marion Post Wolcott
13. Jorena Pettway is feeding a group of livestock in Gees Bend, Alabama. (May 1939)
Library of Congress/Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990, photographer
14. A farmer's corn field near Eutaw, Alabama is beginning to dry up. (June 1936)
Library of Congress/Lange, Dorothea, photographer
15. Farm workers are seen here picking cotton in Colbert County, Alabama in the late 1930s.
wikimedia commons/Tennessee Valley Authority

After seeing these rare photos, there’s no denying that Alabama’s agriculture industry has come a really long way over the years. For more rare photos of Alabama, check out these Alabama schools from the early 1900s. They’re so different.

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