Augusta County, Va., Agricultural Production

This map of Augusta County, Virginia, shows the agricultural production in the county in each voting precinct. The largest plantations in the county correspond to the areas of highest wheat production--the precincts of New Hope, Mt. Sidney, Fishersville, and Stuart's Draft.

The map is based on GIS data and soil type data derived from a 1978 U.S. Geological Survey soil map. The map is derived from a Jedediah Hotchkiss map of Augusta County, published in 1870, and based on surveys completed "during the war." The Hotchkiss map has been georeferenced at the Virginia Center for Digital History, using ESRI Arc Info to produce a Geographic Information Systems map and database of households.

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Edward L. Ayers and William G. Thomas, III
Augusta County, Va., Agricultural Production
2001

"Slaveholders in Augusta did not monopolize the best soil nor did they crowd out nonslaveholders or small slaveholders."

"On a per capita basis, Franklin farmers grew far less corn and more wheat than their counterparts in Augusta, and their commitment to wheat was seen by many as both the symbol of the North's wealth and the evidence of its superior labor system."

"In Augusta clusters of contiguous precincts gave their support in the 1860 presidential election in similar patterns."