This old barn about 2.5 miles east of the Emporia-Greensville County Regional Airport in southeastern Virginia is smack dab in the middle of a peanut field. The barn, located in Southampton County, is just off U.S. Highway 58.
Southampton County is known in history as the place where slave Nat Turner led a rebellion in 1831. More than 50 white residents were killed in the rebellion. After the state crushed it, Turner and 55 others were executed. More than 100 other blacks are thought to have been murdered by white mobs. The rebellion led to action across Virginia and other Southern states, according to Wikipedia: “State legislators passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free blacks, restricting rights of assembly and other civil rights for free blacks, and requiring white ministers to be present at black worship services.”
Today, 18,409 people live in Southampton County; three in five are white; most of the rest are black. Poverty is about 16 percent.
Photo taken July 24, 2012, by Better South President Andy Brack. All rights reserved.