South Dakota has a lot of farmland that has been in use for decades. Today farms are not run much differently than back then, just with updated technology, but there is still a lot of characteristics that make old farms special in their own unique ways. Take a look at these photographs of 10 farms from the 1930s and 1940s to see what it was like way back when:
- “Wheat farm. Clark County, South Dakota,” 1942
John Vachon/yale.edu
- “Homesteader in the land development area. Pennington County, South Dakota,” 1936
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
- “Rounding up cattle during the first stages of blizzard. Lyman County, South Dakota,” 1940
John Vachon/yale.edu
- “Stock water dam under construction. Pennington County, South Dakota,” 1936
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
- “Sod house homestead on submarginal land purchased by United States Resettlement Administration. Pennington County, South Dakota,” 1936
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
- Another sod house in the same county, 1936
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
- “Cornfield. Brown County, South Dakota,” 1940
John Vachon/yale.edu
- “Cows going home. Ziebach County, South Dakota,” 1942
John Vachon/yale.edu
- “Farm in Mellette County, South Dakota,” 1940
John Vachon/yale.edu
- “Grazing country. Corson County, South Dakota,” 1942
John Vachon/yale.edu
Many photos of South Dakota’s history still exist, including these photos from the Great Depression. It is truly fascinating to take a peek into the past and look at what life was like back then.
John Vachon/yale.edu
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
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