Tobacco Warehouses

The equipment from the Colonial Tobacco Company was used to test for weight, moisture, and quality.  Colonial was a purchaser, manufacturer, and processor of tobacco.  There are 3 types of tobacco produced by Robertson County farmers Dark Fired, Dark Air Cured or one sucker, and burley.  Once purchased from the farmer the leaf would be blended, stored, aged, and transported in large barrels called hogsheads.  These would hold up to 1,000 pounds of tobacco.  You will notice a frame which was used to make hogshead barrels.  The round frame would hold the wooden slats which were compressed together and banded to hold the slats in place.  At the very end is a screw press used to pack the tobacco in the barrels.  It would take 3 of the wooden barrels to make 1 hogshead barrel.