Since refrigeration did not exist, food storage was a challenge for residents of Lexington County in the antebellum period.

A way they could store sweet potatoes was to “bank” them. This called for digging a hole or trench, placing straw in the bottom, placing a ventilator in the middle of the hole/ trench, placing sweet potatoes in the hole/trench, putting straw on top of the potatoes, then covering it with dirt. This would keep the vegetables from rotting.

When they wanted sweet potatoes, all they had to do was dig up some potatoes.