On my trip to Eastern North Carolina, I visited the Tobacco Farm Life Museum in Kenly, close to Wilson. When walking from Raleigh to New Bern on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, I saw plenty of tobacco fields. I wanted to understand the impact of tobacco on the state.

North Carolina is still the largest producer of tobacco. After the Civil War ended the reign of King Cotton, tobacco became more popular and is credited for rebuilding the state. Two types of tobacco are grown. Flue tobacco is used for cigarettes and is heat cured. This is what is grown in Eastern North Carolina. In the mountains, Burly tobacco, used for cigars, is more popular. That's air cured.

The Museum seems to want to spread out from just tobacco to the farm life that tobacco provided. I was greeted by Melody, the curator who answered all my questions. On a cool winter weekday, I was the only person in the museum.

First I watched a film produced on the Holland Farm on  growing tobacco. The movie showed every step of the process from starting the tobacco plants in greenhouses to taking to market. I'll spare you the step-by-step flowchart but the lasting impression I came away with is that it's a very labor intensive process.

Traditionally, tobacco was sold at auctions. It seems that with the auction system, farmers got paid once a year. That would require some serious financial management. Now most tobacco farmers are contracted directly with a cigarette company.

 The Museum also has looms, and exhibits on soil erosion. They explained that traditionally settlers moved on when soil was eroded. By the 1920s, you couldn't do that anymore - there was no place to move.

When walking the MST, I passed many private gravesites on the side of the road. The museum explained that private gravesites were cheaper than church sites. There were no rules and need to pay for upkeep in the church cemetery. People want to be buried on land they are emotionally connected to and near the family members they left behind. That made sense of what I saw.

Outside the museum building, they had laid out the Brown family home which was built starting in 1910. It was left empty in 1960 and donated to the museum in 1989. The dining room and kitchen are in a separate building from the main house. The house seemed like a palace compared to houses in the Smokies.

There were also several barns and outbuildings. Each building had a "Thank you for not smoking" sign. Do they get the irony?

When I see old farm tools, my eyes just glaze over. But I did catch that the tools had been donated by a Midwestern company. Didn't North Carolina have its own legacy of tools?

I went back to the Museum gift store and saw Melody again. She was the only on duty and therefore stuck with me. She asked me what I was doing here and this was my chance to tell her about the MST.

I bought a book of local history My City, My Home about growing up in Wilson. Then Melody suggested Jacob's Cane about a Jewish immigrant family's involvement with the tobacco industry. I wonder why she did that.

I've never smoked but I am not a militant nonsmoker. I'm militant enough about other subjects.

Tobacco is an important part of North Carolina history and explains part of its prosperity. Now I see that I missed a cotton museum. But this won't be the last visit to Eastern North Carolina as I write my MST book.