Cotton Belt

American  

noun

1. (sometimes lowercase) the part of the southern U.S. where cotton is grown, originally Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, but now often extended to include parts of Texas and California.

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cotton belt British  

noun

1. a belt of land in the southeastern US that specializes in the production of cotton

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Etymology

Origin of Cotton Belt

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

In many of the areas of the Cotton Belt, slaves were the majority of the population.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

By 1915, they had spread across the Cotton Belt and wreaked havoc on the crop, leaving families destitute during the Great Depression.

From Washington Post • Oct. 7, 2022

“The name Cotton Belt Route was considered, too, but Dixie was chosen to promote the South.”

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2020

Amid a vast migration during the early 20th century, tens of thousands of black people came to California’s farm country from far-off states in the Cotton Belt and the Dust Bowl.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 24, 2019

Then I went to Pine Bluff and went to work with the railroad and helped to widen the gauge of the Cotton Belt Road.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 3 by Work Projects Administration