Pennsylvania Farming: A History in Landscapes

by Sally McMurry

Overview

Since precolonial times, agriculture has been deeply woven into the fabric of Pennsylvania's history and culture. Pennsylvania Farming presents the first history of Pennsylvania agriculture in more than sixty years, and offers a completely new perspective. Sally McMurry goes beyond a strictly economic approach and considers the diverse forces that helped shape the farming landscape, from physical factors to cultural repertoires to labor systems. Above all, the people who created and worked on Pennsylvania's farms are placed at the center of attention. More than 150 photographs inform the interpretation, which offers a sweeping look at the evolution of Pennsylvania's agricultural landscapes right up to the present day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822983064
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	12/29/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
File size:	64 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

SallyMcMurry is professor emerita of history at Pennsylvania State Universityand former president of the Agricultural History Society. She is the author ofseveral books on landscape and architectural history, including most recently From Sugar Camps to Star Barns: Rural Lifeand Landscape in a Western Pennsylvania Community.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Beginnings Chapter 1. Colonial Pennsylvania Farming and the Atlantic World Chapter 2. Transformations in the New Republic, circa 1780–1830 Part II: The Era of Regionalism, circa 1830–1910 Chapter 3. Pennsylvania’s Farming Regions Evolve Chapter 4. Farm and City in Southeastern Pennsylvania, circa 1830–1910 Chapter 5. Transformations on the Lancaster Plain: The Rise of America’s “Banner County” Chapter 6. A Different Rhythm: York and Adams Counties Chapter 7. Landlords and Tenants in the Ridge and Valley Region Chapter 8. The Susquehanna Lowlands: A Little Bit of Everything Chapter 9. Grassland Farming in the Northern Tier Chapter 10. Northwestern Pennsylvania: “A Hard Soil and a Fickle Climate” Chapter 11. Southwestern Pennsylvania: Riding a Wool Wave Chapter 12. Farms, Mines, and Industry on the Allegheny Mountain Plateau Part III: The Diverse Landscapes of Modernization, circa 1910–1965 Chapter 13. Modernization Comes to the Pennsylvania Farm Chapter 14. Cows and Chickens: Statewide Trends toward Dairy and Poultry Production Chapter 15. Persistent Localism: Local Marketing and Farm Household Self-Provisioning, circa 1910–1965 Chapter 16. Potatoes in Dutch Country: Lehigh County, circa 1910–1960 Chapter 17. Potter County, Unlikely Stop on the “Florida Itinerary” Chapter 18. Provisioning Tourists: Farming in the Pocono Region, circa 1865–1960 Chapter 19. The Lake Erie Fruit and Vegetable Belt Chapter 20. Apples in Adams: The Rise of the Adams County Fruit Belt, 1875–1960 Chapter 21. Mushroom Country: How a Fungus Became Pennsylvania’s Top “Vegetable” Chapter 22. Amish Farming Landscapes Part IV: Pennsylvania Farming in the Late Twentieth Century Chapter 23. Swimming with the Agricultural Mainstream: Pennsylvania Farm Landscapes since 1960 Chapter 24. Alternative Voices Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

An outstanding contribution to scholarship on Pennsylvania’s historic agriculture. It merges lively writing with a careful analysis of documentary sources and field research on the state’s buildings and landscapes. The book explores one of the nation’s oldest and most complex ecological and cultural regions to arrive at sensible explanations about why rural landscapes in the Keystone State look the way they do and how they got that way.”
—Ritchie Garrison, Director, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, and Professor of History at the University of Delaware
 
 


“Historical, social, economic, and cultural forces intersected to shape Pennsylvania’s agricultural landscapes. Pennsylvania Farming shows how common farm buildings and landscape features such as cisterns, contour strips, and tree lines can be ‘read’ to reveal a complex layered history that offers a fresh perspective on modern-day issues such as sustainability, local foods, diversification, and small-scale agriculture.”
—Gabrielle M. Lanier, James Madison University
 

From the Publisher