Long before iPhones and social media, there were a lot of hardworking Americans living in Northern California and a lot of blood, sweat and tears that shaped this agricultural powerhouse. The 1930s saw a lot of migrant workers who were new to this part of the country but were determined to carve out a life for themselves. Many Northern Californians are descended from these hard working farmers or may even remember what life was like in these photos.
- The home and garden of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Shadd was part of a FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm workers community in Gridley.
Photogrammar/
- This hard worker tends a strawberry at the same FSAcommunity in Gridley.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee
- Many farms sprang up in Siskiyou county. This majestic farm shot with Mount Shasta in the background was taken in 1941.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee
- These are apple or pear orchards near Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee Orchards near Auburn, California
- Here’s the 1940 farmstead of Carl Rubel, a successful dairy farm operator in Yuba County.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee Farmstead of Carl Rubel, successful dairy farm operator. Yuba County, California in1940
- And pictured here is the barn of Carl Rubel, the owner of successful 150 acre dairy farm in Yuba County.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee
- This is the haystack and barn of Jo Webster, a farmer in the El Camino district in Tehema County. He had about twenty dairy cows, poultry and raised his own alfalfa.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee
- This was the more depressing side of migrant life. It’s a ramshackle potato pickers’ camp near Tulelake in Siskiyou County.
Photogrammar/ Dorothea Lange
- Drinking water for the whole town in Tulelake, as well as for the migrant camp across the road, was located in a central gathering spot.
Photogrammar/ Dorothea Lange
- This privy on farm in Placer County shows how rough life was out there on the job for many migrant workers.
Photogrammar/ Russell Lee
Northern California has come a long way since the 1930s, but we still have our own struggles and challenges. We still value work hard, however, and that’s an honest hand-me-down that we are proud to take on from the generations that came before us. Did you have family members who moved out to California during the Great Depression? Share their stories with us on Facebook.
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Photogrammar/ Russell Lee
Orchards near Auburn, California
Farmstead of Carl Rubel, successful dairy farm operator. Yuba County, California in1940
Photogrammar/ Dorothea Lange
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