A century before Peach County was officially established, the city of Fort Valley was taking shape. Founded in the 1820s and incorporated in 1858, the name is somewhat of a mystery because there was never a fort in Fort Valley. One theory is that one of the founders, James Everett of North Carolina, named it after his friend and Revolutionary war hero, Arthur Fort. The other theory is that the name was intended to be Fox Valley, but post office officials in Washington, D.C., misread the handwriting.
Regardless, there's no mystery about the name of Peach County. The luscious fruit was introduced to Georgia in the 18th century and commercial production began in the middle of the 19th century. Much of Georgia's success with peaches is attributed to Samuel H. Rumph, a Marshaville farmer who developed the Elberta peach variety in 1870 and later invented refrigerated shipping containers.
At one time there were more than 50 packing sheds operating, and production reached an all-time high of 8 million bushels. The peach industry spawned other businesses. The Atlantic Ice & Coal Company was built in 1925 to provide the ice needed for shipping peaches. At the time, it was the largest ice plant in the world. Woolfork Chemical Works built a factory in Fort Valley to produce chemical fertilizers and pesticides for the farming community.
Another factor in Fort Valley's prosperity was the railroad. A large brick freight depot was built in 1871. During the busy summer peach season, trains ran 24 hours a day taking the fruit to New York markets. After the passenger terminal was constructed in 1900, there were enough passengers traveling through Fort Valley to support two large hotels in the downtown area.
In the 1850s, the nearby town of Byron grew up around a refueling station on the Southwestern Railroad. Originally called Number-One-and-One-Half Station, it was also referred to as Jackson Station after the stationmaster. The town was incorporated in 1874 and named after Lord Byron, the favorite poet of the town's first mayor, C.H. Richardson.
Residents in Fort Valley began talking about forming a new county as early as the mid-1850s. They complained that it was too difficult to travel to the Houston county seat of Perry for government business. Political controversies between the Fort Valley/Byron faction and the Perry faction fueled the momentum to create a new county. However it wasn't until between 1914 and 1924 that the cause gained enough strength to become reality.
The controversy ran the gamut of issues including the name. Many people questioned the proposed name and wondered if there would be more Georgia counties named after crops, such as “Watermelon County.” There was also a legal issue. In 1904, the Georgia Legislature had approved a constitutional amendment to limit the number of counties to 145. By 1922, The State had already bent it own rules 15 times to allow the formation of new counties. Many opponents argued against the need of creating another one.
Finally, the Georgia General Assembly approved the amendment to establish Peach County on July 18, 1924, and the voters ratified the amendment on Nov. 4, 1924. Peach County became the 161 st Georgia county and the last to be formed.
IN 1895, the heyday of peach production and the railroad boom, a school was established to provide education to area's black population. F.W. Gano founded Fort Valley High and Industrial School, offering secondary education and later teacher training and four-year degrees. In 1939, Fort Valley State College, as it was known then, became part of the University System of Georgia. One of Georgia's three public historically black colleges, it became Fort Valley State University in June 1996.
In 1927, Albert Luce founded Blue Bird Corporation in Fort Valley to manufacture steel-bodied school buses – an improvement over the wooden bodies that were standard at the time. Blue Bird Continued to grow and now has more than 3,000 employees at three facilities in two countries.
AND NOW…
Blue Bird Corporation, along with Fort Valley State University, Peach Regional Medical and Southern Orchard Supply are the county's largest employers, and Blue Bird will be increasing its presence in Fort Valley. Blue Bird announced in May of 2007 that its relocating its Microbird production from Canada to Fort Valley.
Fort Valley State University is also continuing to grow. It now has a student body of approximately 2,500 with more than 70 student organizations. The highly acclaimed biology and chemistry departments have prepared more African-American students to attend medical and dental schools than any other state school in Georgia.
While the Peach County orchards aren't producing quite as much as they did in 1925, they still ship around 140 million pounds of peaches a year with an estimated value of $35 million and are third in the nation in peach production (behind California and South Carolina).
There are two family-owned farms that have been growing peaches for four generations. The Pearson family continues to produce high-quality peaches and pecans on the same land their grandparents farmed more than 100 years ago. Their orchards, the Big 6 Farm, have 1,500 acres of peaches and 2,000 acres of pecans.
Lane Packing Company was founded in 1908 as Diamond Fruit Farm by John David Duke. The fourth generation of the family still farms more than 2,500 acres of peaches and 2,000 acres of pecans. They also built a visitor center adjacent to their modern packing plant. Visitors can tour the packing house and orchards, purchase fresh produce, browse the gift shop and enjoy homemade peach ice cream or peach cobbler in the café.
Just south of Fort Valley is Massee Lane Gardens, home to the American Cameilla Society headquarters. The beautiful gardens have nine acres of camellias, daylilies and azaleas as well as fragrant tea olives and roses. There are several specialty gardens and a particularly fine porcelain collection inside the headquarters' building. The walls in the garden are made of bricks that were originally used as ballast on ships coming from England into the port of Charleston in the late 1700s. The month of February is designated as the Camellia Festival. Along with the spectacular display of blooms, there are camellia workshops, plant sales, a fashion show and special luncheon events.
Since 1986, Byron and Fort Valley have joined forces to host the Peach Festival in June. The week of activities include a parade, fireworks, pageants, dances, a road race and the events claim to fame, the world's largest peach cobbler.
Byron also host the Battle of Byron, a fun-filled, fund-raising festival. The competitions are not the normal three-legged races but have names such as the Trike Race and Mud Volleyball.
Historic Downtown Byron boasts several antebellum homes and a renovated 1870 Depot Museum. The old jailhouse recently received a makeover and a park was added. Byron is also home to Midstate RV, the largest Coachmen dealership in the world.
One of Fort Valley's Newest business may not be the largest in the world, but it could be the best of its kind in the world. YoYoJam, the leading producer of high-end yo-yo's, opened their new warehouse and distribution center in January of 2007. YoYoJam also sponsors a team of professional players, many of whom hold World Championship titles.
The population of Peach County has been steadily growing, and its not all due to its proximity to Robins Air Force Base and the economic dynamo of Houston County. New business and the growth of established businesses plus the charm of its historic cities make Peach County a prime place to live.
