Web site of Samuel Lucas McMillan
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar representing the Rotary Club of Mullins and Rotary District 7770 of South Carolina, USA
Mullins: Home to Tobacco and Farming

A changing institution
Tobacco was introduced to Mullins in 1894 and became the leading cash crop in 1920. At one time, Mullins boasted 41 tobacco warehouses. Mullins remains SC’s largest tobacco market, but only has 5 working warehouses in 2002, most operated by tobacco companies.

Since 2000, companies have started making contracts with individual farmers—leaving out the warehouse role of “middleman” to sell the tobacco at the auction. Thus, the auction system has almost disappeared.

An original tobacco barn in our yardNew innovations in farm machinery and the absence of the warehouses’ auction system are two reasons causing the decline of labor needs in farming.  At one time, farmers hung the tobacco in heated tobacco barns.  The picture to the left shows how the tobacco was hung in these barns, checked all night by farmers that kept the furnace going to cure the tobacco.

In the 1970s, natural gas and oil began to be used to cure tobacco with gas and oil barns.  Although this system allowed for a stable temperature to be more easily kept, it still required farmers to check on the barn temperature at many points during the day.
artwork of hanging tobacco Tobacco is now sold in bales instead of sheets, both shown on this truck.
Pictures from the SC Tobacco Museum        http://www.sctobaccomuseum.org

The SC Tobacco Museum opened in 1998 and has already received much publicity in regional, state and local media. Thousands of people from across the US and abroad have visited the museum. Reggie McDaniel is pictured with me above.

Here, different ways of displaying tobacco in the warehouse are shown. On the left is the tied tobacco that was used during the 1950s-1970s. On the right is the loose tobacco leaves in a burlap sheet, as it was displayed from the 1970s until the present. However, in 1999, tobacco started to be shown in 500-800 lbs.

Therefore, tobacco farming in 2002 and in the future is substantially different from only ten years ago with individual contracts negotiated with farmers and tobacco bales being used instead of burlap sheets.  Tobacco companies continue to expand their markets overseas as the US tobacco market declines.

artwork of Old Brick WarehouseOld Brick Warehouse was the first warehouse in Mullins. I worked at Old Brick during summers 1992-2000,  holding a number of different jobs and responsibilities.  Some of the various jobs I held were: handing tickets to the Ticket Marker during the sale, shipping assistant, Deputy Weighmaster, "Turn-Tag and re-sale assistant" and general office helper.

      Old Brick Warehouse on Main Street in Mullins.       A tobacco field in September 2002

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