The Golden Weed
King James called smoking “a filthy novelty,” but tobacco proved the salvation of his
Virginia colony.
Seeds from South America and the West Indies, grown in Virginia’s soil and climate, produced a pleasing leaf. From 1615 to 1619, tobacco exports increased twentyfold.
In 1617, a captain found “the marketplace, and streets, and all other spare places planted with Tobacco.” After four more years, a report confessed, “there is no Commodity but Tobacco.”
Marker is on Loop Drive, on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
