Agriculture

For the past two centuries, Lincoln County’s economy and culture have been anchored by the rich soils of the Elk River valley, creating a diverse agricultural legacy that evolved from "King Cotton" to modern livestock dominance. In the 19th century, the county was a powerhouse of cotton and corn production, heavily reliant on mules and horses for labor, while hogs provided the primary meat source for early settlers; in fact, historical records from the 1880s show the county boasted over 40,000 hogs—quadruple the number of horses. As the 20th century progressed, the landscape shifted toward dairy and beef, bolstered by the arrival of the Borden Milk Plant in 1927 which turned the county into a dairy hub, though today it is better known as one of the state's top beef cattle producers. Throughout this evolution, forestry has remained a steady economic backbone, with abundant stands of red cedar supplying the region’s pencil industry and hardwoods like walnut, oak and hickory supporting lumber needs, ensuring that even as row crops like soybeans and corn modernized the fields, the land remained central to the community's identity.

Baling Hay 2

Baling Hay 3

Baling Hay

Barn & Tree

Bearden Mill 1879 Ad

Cabbage Patch

Cash Point Baptist Church Picking Cotton

Cattle Judging on the Square

Cattle Show

Conger Barn

Construction of Tobacco Warehouse

Corn gathering, Clark Thompson-307

Corn Sheller 2

Corn Sheller

Cotton Ables Cotton Gin

Cotton Bales

Cotton Choppers

Cotton Gin at Frogville

Cotton Gin MM Delap and Sons Vanntown

Cotton Gin Strong Brothers Cotton Gin S. Franklin Ave

Cotton Plowers

Cotton Towry Gin Co Kirkland TN

Cotton Vanntown Cotton Gin

Cotton Workers 1930s at Prospect

Cows

Dairy Ava the Cow Avalon Dairies Mascot 2

Dairy Ava the Cow Goes to TN State Fair

Dairy Ava the Cow with Sign in Color

Dairy Avalon Daries, Maple St in 1957

Dairy Avalon Daries, Maple St

Dairy Clover Leaf Dairy Charlie Bates

Dairy Sun Rose Dairy Ad

Dale Mill, Molino

Douglas Farm Donkey

Douglas Farm Horses

Farm Bureau Bldg East Market

Farm Workers1

Farm Workers2

Farm Workers 3

Farm Workers 4

Farmers Market on Square

Farrier2

Farrier

Fay. Milling Co. Norris Street Flood

Fayetteville Milling Company 1

Fayetteville Milling Company

Fayetteville Milling Ford Scott Rendering

Fayetteville Stockyard 2

Fayetteville Stockyard

Fish Hatchery1

Fish Hatchery2

Fish Hatchery3

Fish Hatchery4

Fish Hatchery 3 Mill Wheel 1944

Fish Hatchery Water Wheel

Frank Rambo's horse barn at Oakwood Acres

Fur Market - South Lincoln Avenue by Tanyard

Group of Cotton Pickers

Harms Grainery

Hauling Hay - Gowan Farm - Mimosa - 1950s

Hauling Logs

Hay Stacks in Front of old jail

Hay

Hog Killing-Childress Farm

Horse and Rider at Oakwood Acres

Horse Oakwood Acres 1941

Mr. Small showing "Wilson Allen Jr." to Mrs. Rawls, Frank Rambo and Miss Ra...

J.W. Buddy Fanning Plowing 1930s

James S Hereford with Hogs Main at Market Street

Jersey Cow and Ewin Cowley

Jersey Cows at Oakwood Acres Farm

Ladies on Case Tractor Disking Ground

Lincoln County Poultry Club

Lincoln Farmers CoOp Winchester Highway

March Mill on Cane Creek

Morrells Mill Late 1800s

Moving Cotton Bales

Mules & Wagon

Neighbors cutting hay in Howell TN

This picture, made about 1913, is a group of neighbors working to cut hay i...

Oakwood Acres Farm and Lake 1949

Oakwood Acres Farm Dam and Lake 1949

Oakwood Acres Farm Horse Barn

Oakwood Acres Farm Lake Pier and Boathouse1949

Oakwood Acres Farm Stables

Oakwood Acres Farm Walking Horse

Oakwood Acres Farm Walking Horses

Patricks Orchard

Peoples Stock Yard

Petersburg Mill

Pig Farm

Postcard Hay Field Fayetteville, TN

Postcard Stock Farm

Prize Winning Horse

Processing Grain

Railroad at Taft Wrights Gin

Rambo Farm

Round roof barn

rr & grain silos-467

Sandy Freeman's Tomato patch, Mayberry St

Sawmill

Setting Sweet Potatoes 2

Setting Sweet Potatoes

Shearing Sheep, Childress Farm,1930s

Sheep at Stockyard

Steam Powered Tractor On The Square

Stevensons Sorghun Mill 1914 New Hope

Strong Bagley and Bagley Grain Warehouse Norris St

Strong Brothers Cotton Gin S. Franklin Ave

The barn at Oakwood Acres 1941

Theo Hereford and Prize Hogs

Thomison Flour Mill at Mulberry 1896

Thomison Rolling Mill Mulberry Glenn Davis

Thomison Rolling Mill Mulberry

Threshing Wheat at Dellrose

Threshing Wheat at Frogville

Threshing Wheat

Tobacco Warehouse Delivery Truck

Tobacco Warehouse

Tractor

Transporting Logs at Camargo

Transporting Logs Daves, J. J. at front of wagon- dapper man-log from Conger farm

Transporting Logs Daves, J. J. on mule

Transporting Logs

Turley Grain Company

Two women and a horse at Oakwood Acres 1941

Vegetable Pickers

Veterinary Hospital

Wagon

Warren Hollow Saw Mill

Woman on Horse at Oakwood Acres

Mrs. Clyde Rawls on "Gorgeous Hussy" at Oakwood Acres