IMAGES OF OUR PAST - KEWANEE, GA. BETWEEN DUDLEY AND DEXTER, GEORGIA HIGHWAY 338 AT ROCKY CREEK. BILLED AS THE LARGEST PEACH ORCHARD IN THE WORLD IN

 KEWANEE 

The Largest Peach Orchard in the World.

In the month of June, we all look forward to our first taste of that delicious Georgia delicacy, the peach.  One hundred years ago, Laurens County boasted that within its borders was the largest peach orchard in the world.                             

Kewanee, in its prime, was a bustling community in Laurens County, although it never had a railroad or a bank.  Kewanee sprang up along the banks of Rocky Creek in the community centered around Rocky Creek Baptist Church.  Today Kewanee is located on Highway 338 south of Dudley, along the northern banks of the creek.   Rocky Creek Church was established in 1812 by Alexander Stringer, Simon Stringer, and Richard Barlow among others.  The store of Andrew Hampton thrived in the area during the 1830's.  Kewanee was also situated on an old road, commonly known as the "Chicken Road."  The name of the road may have been derived from the Chickasaw Indians.  The road runs from Old Hartford, east of present-day Hawkinsville, through Kewanee and on to Dublin, passing through or near Sumpterville and down the present day Moore's Station Road to Bellevue Road.

In the latter quarter of the 19th Century, two railroad barons, Col. John M. Stubbs of Dublin and Dudley M. Hughes of Danville purchased large tracts of land in northwestern Laurens County between Montrose and Kewanee.  Part of those lands were located on Rocky Creek in the area where it intersects the Chicken Road.  Both Stubbs and Hughes were fascinated by orchards.  They planted several thousand trees on the sandy rolling terrain near Montrose.  In the late summer of 1897, an Indiana company approached Hughes about participating in a venture to establish a large peach orchard.  Hughes, along with Ervin L. Dennard and Carrie H. Hill, sold 1019 acres to the Georgia Fruit-Land Company on September 19, 1897.  The price was ten dollars per acre for this tract and all of the other lands to follow.  The company purchased 1013.5 acres on March 31, 1898.  A year after the original purchase,  the company purchased another tract of 1112.5 acres from Hughes and his family.  The company purchased its final two tracts of 976 acres and 685 acres on April 7, 1899, from Hughes, et al and from Thomas H. Rowe on December 5, 1899.  J.J. Hale, head of the U.S. Census Horticulture Department, praised the growing conditions in the orchard, comparing them favorably to the orchards of southern California.   

The Georgia Fruit-Land Company was capitalized with $100,000.00 of capital stock.  The goal of the company was to develop several thousand acres of Elberta peach trees divided into twenty acre tracts.  Investors could purchase a tract for twelve hundred dollars.  The investor would pay $10.00 per month for no more than sixty months.  The balance of the purchase price would be paid from the tract's profits.  The company assumed the responsibility of planting and caring for the trees.  On average, one hundred and thirty four trees were planted on an acre of land.  Under ideal conditions, the trees would begin to bear fruit after three years. The promoters promised an annual income up to two thousand dollars on each tract.  With the aid of Dudley Hughes, the residential manager, the company planned to build spur tracks to the Macon, Dublin, and Savannah railroad to the northwest and to the Hawkinsville Division of the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad to the southeast.  The company envisioned a canning plant, a crate factory, and an evaporator.  To utilize the waste products from the canning plant, the company planned to erect a vinegar plant.

Mr. Cunningham of Chicago served as president of the company as well as President of the American Fruit Grower's Union.  Vice President C.F.W. Neely and Secretary Fred L. Dresser worked at the company's headquarters in Muncie, Indiana.  J.R. Preston was assigned to superintend the orchard at Kewanee.  In the company newsletter, Preston described Kewanee as a virtual garden, with wild flowers, flowering trees and vines, and numerous kinds of fruit trees.

Almost overnight, a community of orchard workers arose.  A post office was established on June 21, 1898, with Carrie B. Rude as postmistress.  The post office operated until May of 1904.  The old Rocky Creek Baptist Church was revived.  A hotel was built to accommodate visitors.  Col. Stubbs erected a large canning plant in anticipation of the first crop.

As many as eighty thousand trees were planted in the first year. A freeze killed many of the young trees within a year.  In the winter of 1899, nearly three hundred fifty thousand trees were planted, making the Kewanee orchard the largest peach orchard in the world. Just as the trees began to grow, they were infested by San Jose scale insects.  These little insects sucked the juice out of the trees, destroying over a hundred thousand dollars worth of trees.  The owners could not recover.  The project was abandoned, and the property was sold for taxes.

Almost as soon as it began, the Kewanee orchard faded into obscurity.  Today, a few peach trees remain scattered throughout the woods and fields. They are the only surviving signs of the world's largest peach orchard in Kewanee, Laurens County, Georgia.