The Atkins Family in Cuba: A Photograph Exhibit
Life and Work at the Soledad Plantation
By the 1890s, Soledad had become the focal point of E. Atkins & Co.'s sugar cane production. The plantation and its surrounding lands contained twenty-two miles of private railway, and its factory had the capacity to grind 120,000 tons of cane. At the height of its prosperity before the Spanish-American War, the estate was worth $800,000, and had nearly 1,200 employees. The photographs below, most taken in the decades following the Spanish-American War, depict the working life of the Soledad sugar plantation.
By the 1890s, Soledad had become the focal point of E. Atkins & Co.'s sugar cane production. The plantation and its surrounding lands contained twenty-two miles of private railway, and its factory had the capacity to grind 120,000 tons of cane. At the height of its prosperity before the Spanish-American War, the estate was worth $800,000, and had nearly 1,200 employees. The photographs below, most taken in the decades following the Spanish-American War, depict the working life of the Soledad sugar plantation.