This was originally home to the Tifton Telephone Company. Later, it housed the Georgia Peanut Commission, before their move to a site beside Interstate 75 several years ago. The brickwork is some of the best in Tifton.
Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This was likely a cotton warehouse. As I’ve said before, these often overlooked structures are important landmarks in the agriculturally focused communities they served and we should learn as much about them as we can.
This is the first of three posts I’m sharing to celebrate Earth Day. Georgia has diverse natural beauty, but here’s an example of how much smarter our farmers have gotten in regards to keeping their fields in better shape through the use of cover crops. Sunflowers and canola [rapeseed] are doing their part for soil stabilization and attracting pollinators in a field north of Wrightsville.
A monument to the peanut might seem strange, but not so in Early County, which is one of the leading producers of this valuable crop in the entire state, with over 100 million pounds harvested in 2021. Located on the northeast lawn of the courthouse, it reads: The people of Early County, the largest peanut producing center in the world, have erected this monument in tribute to the peanut, which is so largely responsible for our growth and prosperity. Not only has it contributed to the higher living standards of the people engaged in its producing, manufacturing and marketing, but has also become important to the better health of the people of the world, as it is the source of some of our most nutritious and beneficial foods.
Peanuts remain central to the economy of Southwest Georgia.
Blakely Court Square Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This looked like a general store to me, but a lady who lives nearby told me that locals call it the “egg factory”. I presume it was a storage and packing facility.
The unusual structure advertising Sessions Peanut Company has become a landmark of Colquitt.
Colquitt Town Square Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I couldn’t find a name for this business, but they obviously bought, sold, and stored farm seed, in addition to growing and processing.
I. C. Williams, the first commercial peach grower in Brooks County, built this packing shed in the 1950s. Though it’s now owned by Mike and Lynn Abbott and known as Burton Brooks Orchards, the business is stronger than ever. Like Luck & Moody across the road, Burton Brooks sells at least 100 gallons of ice cream a day during the summer.
At the encouragement of Brooks County’s first peach grower, I. C. Williams, James E. Moody began growing peaches in the late 1950s. He began packing the fruit in an old cotton gin by the railroad tracks, as a way to streamline his operation and ship his peaches in a timely manner. As his business grew, he built this more modern shed, originally known as the James Moody Peach Shed. It was later known as Joyce & Moody, before becoming Luck & Moody. Mr. Moody’s daughter and granddaughter continue the business today.
In summer, their famous peach ice cream brings in customers from far and wide; they sell 100 gallons or more on a good day.
This colorful mural by artist Ethan Abbott graces the side of the old Harris Brothers garage and leaves no doubt that you’re in the heart of South Georgia’s peach country. It’s one of the most colorful murals out there and I guarantee it will make you want to stop and buy some peaches or get some peach ice cream.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 