Tag Archives: Georgia Peaches

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot, Iron City

6 Replies

Iron City’s old ACL Depot was moved to its present location on US Highway 84 at least forty years ago by John Emory Trawick; it has served as a feed warehouse and as The Peach Depot.

Chip Jones writes: Mr Trawick is a real trip and I wanted to do a story on him, but haven’t. The last time I saw him was 2009. After he had purchased the depot and moved it to old U.S. 84, the DOT came through with plans for the Wiregrass Parkway. The state financed moving the depot building again, away from the right-of-way for the parkway. Mr. Trawick joked that he actually made a good profit for all his efforts to move the historical depot building without the profits from his vegetable stand. His peach trees are recognized as being the southernmost peach orchid in the east. He also grows tomatoes and several varieties of cantaloupes. The last I knew, Mr. Trawick had taken the stand over and was managing it again after a couple of years of subletting.  Chip noted that this information was a couple of years old

Samuel Henry Rumph House, 1904, Marshallville

5 Replies
October 2009

The builder of this house, Samuel Henry Rumph, Sr., developed the Elberta peach and  is considered the father of the commercial peach industry in Georgia. He named the Elberta for his wife, Clara Elberta Moore Rumph. He also developed techniques considered integral to the safe shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables. Read more about him here.

May 2016

West Main Residential District, National Register of Historic Places

Peach Packing Barn, Miami Valley

4 Replies

At its peak, the fruit-packing industry was so dominant in Peach County that at least two settlements took on the name of companies that were vital to the area’s economy. One was Lee Pope. Another was Miami Valley, named for the area around Lebanon, Ohio, where the company that built this barn was headquartered. Although the name Miami Valley appears on maps to this day, it’s scarcely known outside Peach County. It’s located at the edge of Fort Valley and most people passing through would assume it to be Fort Valley anyway.

 

Brown’s Peach Farm, 1958, Ben Hill County

2 Replies
Lloyd Brown inspecting peach blossoms, circa 1963

My grandfather, Lloyd Brown, was the first successful peach farmer in Ben Hill County, and to our family’s knowledge, the only such farmer to take up this challenging crop. The weather in South Georgia is even less predictable than it is in Central Georgia’s Peach Belt. The whole operation only lasted about 15 years, finished circa 1970 by disease, but it remains a beloved memory to the family and to the many people in Ben Hill and Irwin Counties who bought peaches from Brown’s Peach Farm.

Newspaper ad, circa 1960

The peach farm was finished around the time I was born, but memories of the operation were very important to my family.

Lloyd Brown with peaches, circa 1958

This is my grandfather at the farm in 1958, with some of his prized peaches, and plenty of Coca-Cola to go around.

Lloyd Brown with peaches, circa 1963

I still have a few of those peach baskets.