The Great Depression began in the United States soon after the stock market crash in October 1929. This sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. For the U.S., it lasted through the entire 1930s and was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. For some countries, it took even longer to recover. Some of the hardest hit economically were the working poor such as farmworkers, miners, loggers, and factory workers. Unemployment rose to as high as 25 percent in the U.S. and as high as 33 percent in other countries. Cities dependent on industry such as St. Louis and Kansas City were hit hard, and construction basically stopped completely. Here are some rare historic photos taken in Missouri gathered by the Photogrammar, a web-based platform for organizing, searching, and visualizing over 170,000 photographs from 1935 to 1945. The site was created by the United States Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI). These photos give you a glimpse into Missouri history.
1. Prairie City
Typical farmer group of Prairie City, Missouri, in Mississippi County 1936
2. Ashland
Nick Phillips, eighty-one years old with wife in front of house. Ashland, Missouri. 1936. Missouri game and arboretum project. Columbia, Missouri
3. Mississippi County
Typical sharecropper's shack with crop entirely surrounding house. Mississippi County, Missouri 1936
4. Sikeston
Flood refugees housed in the Baptist church at Sikeston, Missouri 1937
5. LaForge
Entrance to store, La Forge, Missouri 1938
6. New Madrid
Sharecropper family on front porch, New Madrid County, Missouri 1938
7. Sikeston
General view of auction, Sikeston, Missouri 1938
8. Sikeston
What a view! Southeast Missouri Farms, spectators at auction of cattle near Sikeston, Missouri 1938
9. Osage
Interior of house without windows, home of sharecropper, cut-over farmer of Mississippi bottoms 1938
10. La Forge, New Madrid
Southeast Missouri Farms. Sharecropper's son climbing stairs to attic bedroom in shack near La Forge project, Missouri 1938
11. Steele
Sign. 1938
12. Caruthersville
Types of houses recently constructed in Caruthersville, Missouri. They are very flimsy, consist of two rooms and are elevated to take care of a possible rise of the Mississippi River seen in background. 1938
13. Sikeston
Near Sikeston 1938
14. New Madrid County
State highway officials moving sharecroppers away from that roadside to an area between the levee and the Mississippi River. New Madrid County, Missouri 1939
15. St. Louis
Nightclub along the riverfront. Saint Louis, Missouri 1939
16. Osage Farms
Osage Farms project headquarters are located over the general store in Hughesville, Missouri. Osage Farms, Missouri 1939
17. Osage Farms
Sorgo is fed to the 108 Hereford Cattle. Bois d'Arc Cooperative. Osage Farms, Missouri
1939
18. Washington
Former tiff miner, now blind, with son. Washington County, Missouri 1939
19. Butler
Evicted sharecropper reading the Bible. Butler County, Missouri
1939
20. Mississippi County
A sharecropper's family in Mississippi County. Missouri 1936
21. Columbia
Baking bread. Columbia, Missouri
1939
What are your thoughts on these historic photos taken in Missouri? Do you have any family stories about Missouri during this time? Were you there? What picture of Missouri history is most interesting to you? Let us know in the comments below.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest updates and news
Thank you for subscribing!