Beautiful Photos of Life in Rural Cuba in the Mid-1950s

In the mid-1950s, life in rural Cuba was marked by simplicity, hard work, and deep ties to the land. Most countryside residents were farmers or agricultural laborers, working on sugarcane, tobacco, or coffee plantations—industries that dominated the Cuban economy.

Despite the island’s glamorous image in Havana, rural areas often lacked access to electricity, healthcare, and education. Many families lived in modest wooden homes, relying on traditional farming methods and close-knit community life. Daily routines were shaped by the seasons, harvest cycles, and local customs.

While rural Cuba was rich in culture and resilience, poverty and inequality were widespread, contributing to the social tensions that helped fuel the Cuban Revolution just a few years later. These beautiful photos by Orpha Leatherman offer a rare glimpse into rural Cuban life in the mid-1950s.

Boy and woman drawing water from well, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Children and pigs, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Cuban children seated outdoors, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

A typical Cuban school, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Caritas in Rancho Veloz, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Casita in Mamey, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Casita in Rancho Veloz, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Children, laundry in houses built over water, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Cuban family in front of blue and white house with thatched roof, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Flamboyan, palms, thatched, tiled houses, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Freight leaving La Isabela, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Group of children in field, horse grazing, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Home in cane field, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

House in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

House with thatched roof, painted blue and white, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Houses with thatched roofs, white horse grazing, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Loading sugarcane near Ramona, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Palm grove, Mamey, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Palms and flamboyan trees by house in Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Pilings at water's edge, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Sea port town, La Isabela, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Taxis waiting in the shade, Sagua la Grande, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Two houses on ocean front, sailboat, Isabela de Sagua, Cuba, circa mid-1950s

Waiting to unload at sugar central, Cuba, circa mid-1950s