21 Rare Photos Taken In Missouri During The Great Depression

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.