Parker Tobacco: The end of an era

(Maysville, KY) In the not too distant past, traveling Forest Avenue from Lexington Street to Union Street could take awhile, as the street was congested with trucks bringing loads of tobacco to the Parker Tobacco Company.
The entire block was a beehive of activity during the burley season, as farmers brought in their tobacco, buyers worked the auction floors and purchased lots went into storage for future processing.
Today, all that remains of the prized tobacco market which helped build the economy of Maysville and Mason County for nearly a century are empty tobacco warehouses scattered throughout town and the vacant Parker Tobacco Company processing plant, a landmark in Maysville since its construction in the 1920s. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress