- Take a moment to think about where you live.

Maybe it's a busy city, a quiet suburb, or a small community.

If you're in Georgia, chances are you live in or near a bigger city.

Fewer people live in rural areas these days, but it wasn't always like that.

Before World War II, most Georgians lived out in the countryside, many of them on farms.

Then technology, especially new agricultural machines, changed everything.

So what technology reshaped agriculture in Georgia, and how did it push people from farms into cities?

(upbeat music) To understand the impact of technology on agriculture, we need to take a step back in time to see what life used to be like.

Meet the Millers.

In 1940, they lived on a small farm in rural Georgia.

Every day, they rose before sunrise to tend to their animals and fields.

Mules plowed the soil, and the Millers did just about everything else by hand.

All the members of the Miller family, even the children, worked on the farm.

It was backbreaking work, but it was all they'd ever known.

Farm machinery existed, but they couldn't afford it.

Across the state, families like the Millers made up most of the state's population in 1940.

Back then, more than 65% of Georgians lived in rural areas.

They were a part of agrarian communities that relied on farming to survive.

The past few decades weren't easy for the Millers and other farming families.

The boll weevil began destroying cotton crops in Georgia after its arrival in 1915.

Then severe drought in the 1920s and the economic troubles of the Great Depression in the 1930s hit farmers hard.

Jobs disappeared and savings ran out.

At the same time, thousands of Black Georgians left the state for northern cities in search of better opportunities in a movement known as the Great Migration.

And then came World War II.

Beginning in 1941, many young American men left farms to fight overseas.

Those who returned had a choice.

Go back to the old way of life or explore something new.

Thanks to the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as the G.I.

Bill, some veterans went to college.

Others found work in Georgia's growing cities where factories were booming and the demand for labor was high.

But back on the farms, things were changing too.

Innovative machines and technologies arrived.

Tractors replaced mules.

Mechanical harvesters replaced hand labor.

New fertilizers and seeds made crops grow faster and bigger.

Now, a single farmer could manage acres of land that once required an entire family and sometimes several families to cultivate and harvest.

With these machines, farming became more efficient, but that meant fewer people were needed on the land.

Between 1945 and 1950, almost 28,000 Georgia families left the farms.

Most of them were tenant farmers and sharecroppers.

Some moved to other states, while many others moved to cities like Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, and Savannah, where factories and new industries were hiring.

Cotton, once the king of Georgia's crops, had been dethroned.

It continued to be plagued by the boll weevil throughout the 1900s, and the demand for cotton dropped as synthetic fibers like polyester and rayon became more popular.

So farmers turned their attention to other crops like peanuts, soybeans, corn, and even pine trees.

With better technology and machinery, farmers became more efficient and resourceful.

Agriculture had changed, but so had Georgia's economy.

After World War II, cities grew fast.

Factories opened in and around Atlanta, and the city suburbs exploded.

College Park expanded by 77%, Marietta by 139%, and Forest Park by 360% in just a decade.

Businesses flocked to Georgia for several reasons.

Atlanta was a transportation hub, making it easy to get people and things to and from the city.

Post-war air conditioning made working during the summer bearable.

Labor was cheap and taxes were low.

For families like the Millers, the choice was clear.

Farm operations were shrinking, and the cities provided opportunity.

By 1970, Georgia looked very different compared to just 30 years earlier.

Fewer people lived in rural areas and more were moving to cities.

In fact, the state's rural population dropped from 65% to 39% during that time.

Farms became larger and more efficient, but they needed fewer workers.

Technology had transformed farming, and World War II had opened the door to new opportunities beyond the farm.

For the Millers, that meant change too.

The same machines that made their work easier also made it less necessary for everyone to stay on the farm.

While some family members chose to stay and adapt, others left for jobs in nearby cities.

The story of the Millers wasn't unusual.

It was happening all across Georgia.

Over time, these individual decisions added up to a major population shift.

Rural counties lost people while cities and suburbs grew.

Places like Atlanta became centers of business and industry, drawing workers from across the state.

Today, agriculture is still a key part of Georgia's economy, contributing billions of dollars each year.

But far fewer people make a living farming, and most Georgians now live in urban or suburban areas.

So the next time you think about where you live, it's worth asking why.

The answer likely goes back to a time when farming changed, jobs shifted, and more people began leaving the countryside for something new.

(bright music) (tense music)