Tobacco barns in North Carolina were used to cure brightleaf tobacco after leaves were harvested from nearby fields and brought to the barns to be strung on tobacco sticks, dried, and fire-cured. Fires were watched day and night to maintain an even temperature inside the barn, and curing turned the leaves from green to a bright golden yellow. A year’s planting, growing, and harvesting could be lost if curing was not done properly, and a barn could also burn. The process of flue-curing was developed in North Carolina and is used specifically for cigarette manufacturing. At one time, an estimated half a million tobacco barns dotted the state’s landscape, but their numbers have been drastically reduced and many now fall into disrepair. Preserving these barns preserves both a piece of North Carolina history and a past way of life.