Augusta County, Va., Soil Types
This map of Augusta County, Virginia, shows the soil types in the county. Augusta residents lived in every soil type in the
county, but they concentrated their development in the richest soil areas. A relatively small number of residents inhabited
soils unsuitable for agriculture. Where they did, they often located on the border of soil types, as close to better soils
as possible.
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., Soil Types 2001
Points of Analysis to this Data:
"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."
Citation: Key = E003
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