I've lived in the state of Georgia (U. S., that is) for a
little over eight years now, and I've traveled extensively throughout the
state. One thing I have noted, or
rather, not noted, is the vast peach orchards along my routes of travel. In fact, I cannot recall seeing even one
peach tree in this state much less a whole peach orchard. And yet, Georgia's nickname is "The
Peach State." In Atlanta alone,
there are 55 streets with the name "Peachtree" in them. Many other towns and cities on Georgia have
similarly named streets and avenues.
I've also traveled through our neighboring state, South
Carolina, and have seen literally thousands of peach trees there. Just drive up Route 25 from North Augusta to
Greenwood and from there on to Laurens and you'll see orchards lining both
sides of the road most of the way, all peaches.
Georgia has never been a leader in the growth and production
of peaches. The state now ranks first among the 50 states in the production of
peanuts, pecans, lima beans and pimiento peppers. Do you see peaches listed there?
No, and you won't see any ancient or dead orchards either.
So, the question is, how did Georgia come to be known as
"The Peach State", of more Accurately, "The Peach Tree
State"?
The name goes all the way back to the colonies. One of Georgia's first exports was pine tar,
the harvested resin of the tree now known as the Georgia Pine. Pine tar was very important in shipbuilding,
as it was used to seal the joints and crevasses between the boards on wooden
sailing vessels. Because of this
plentiful and useful commodity, it is just as likely that Georgia would have
been called "The Pitch Tree State", but who would want that
appellation to attract people to their state?
There is another possible origin in the name of a Native
American (Creek) village that once existed near Atlanta. It was called "Standing Pitch
Tree." Where that name came from,
nobody seems to know. Perhaps if we had
left the Creeks alone, hadn't marched them on the "Trail of Tears"
over to Oklahoma, one of their descendants could tell us about it, or even give
us a tour of the village.
It was very easy to use the southern drawl to change the
pronunciation of the word pitch to peach, an attractive and tasty fruit that
everybody likes. When you also drop the word "tree" from it, there is
no longer any association with the pine tree.
And what better name to get people to either migrate to Georgia, or to
come for a visit? Once they get here,
they just forget that it was peaches that first attracted them to this idyllic
place, and they can always buy some in the local farmers markets (imported from
South Carolina, of course).
I think the next thing I might tackle is the origin of the
state nicknames of Iowa and Kansas. Oh,
and I already know that Maine is appropriately called the "Pine Tree
State", but that conjures up a lot better mental image than "Pitch
Tree State".
