Before and after the Civil War, the Shenandoah Valley was the "breadbasket of the Confederacy". The soils here rival those of Lancaster PA for productive quality.

And while slavery was evident here in the valley, the majority of farms were and are smaller, owner run properties that should have recovered fairly quickly after the war. I still can't see what they did for the intervening 40 years.

Crops in the valley were varied: wheat, corn, beef, and sheep for cash. Lots of othere stuff for local consumption.