USA > Georgia > Tift County > History of Tift County > Part 30
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In 1933 Tifton sold 9,178,398 pounds, which brought $1, 115.000.00, at average $12.16 per 100 pounds. It led in average as well as in poundage.
That year, 1933, Tifton had the two Georgia warehouses leading in total tobacco sales for the 1933 season-the only Georgia warehouses sell- ing more than three million pounds each that season. Farmers' Ware- house, managed by A. W. Jeffreys, led the state, with total of 3,235,016 pounds, averaging $12.76. Twin Brick, managed by W. H. Winstead, was second, in the state, with 3,192,338 pounds, at $11.80 average. Fenners, managed by C. G. Weathersby, was fourth in the state.
In September, 1933, at the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station, county agents and growers met to plan a reduction of tobacco acreage.
Blue mold first appeared in the flue-cured tobacco belt in 1931. In 1932 and 1937 the disease was severe.
The Triple A program for tobacco began in 1933. Excepting 1937, this has continued. That same year Washington placed a processing tax on
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tobacco, thus placing it with cotton and wheat as to this measure.
In the spring of 1934 the Georgia Flue-cured Tobacco Growers Asso- ciation was formed, at Tifton. Judge J. F. McCrackin, of Valdosta, was president. J. C. Lanier spoke. The second meeting was held in Tifton May 2, 1935. E. P. Bowen, Jr., was invited to address the meeting.
In 1935 United States sale of tobacco was cut by the largeness of the Chinese tobacco sales of that year.
In 1936 Tifton sales exceeded that of 1935. In 1937, despite unfavor- able weather conditions, sales were good but did not reach 1935's record ; for blue mold took its toll.
In 1935 the new Banner warehouse was built South of the A. B. and C. depot. In 1936 Fenners' No. 2 was built. It was destroyed by fire that fall but was rebuilt in 1937. This brought the number of Tifton tobacco ware- houses to six.
1935 and 1936 were high years for the Tifton market.
With brief exception Tifton has led the state in poundage and in price since 1931. However, in 1945 she dropped from first place. Perhaps it was because her volume in other agricultural crops is constantly increasing, and the big warehouses are often filled with other plants that are shipped in vast quantities and over a wide area.
The result of the 1947 season is not yet known. The market opened July 24, and the big warehouses, as usual, were crowded with tobacco and with people, and the leaf today brought a high price. The huge warehouses have long rows of neatly stacked fragrant leaf, placed in flat baskets. The crowd of country people are picturesque and colorful in their bright colored clothing, a contrast to the saneness of the tan of the leaf. The melodious chant, or the unintelligible jargon of the auctioneer, drawing after him, like iron to magnet, the long line of buyers, and lookers-on, draws and holds the attention of all. It is almost as though one were under a spell- the spell of the fragrance of the tobacco, the humming drone of the voice- the sultriness of the air. It is the spell of the tobacco season.
The town will be flooded with out-of-town buyers, whose money will support the town for many months. The town also will be flooded with crooks and thieves, come to steal or swindle from the unwary; and in the hottest time of the year it is necessary to be constantly vigilant against prowlers. Young and old will dance at the tobacco ball, the Tobacco Queen will be crowned, the Chamber of Commerce will give away valuable prizes.
The town will be gay, and happy and tired, and thankful for the money earned ; but it will really have earned it, and in the hard way.
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY MRS. PAUL FULWOOD, SR. Ida Belle Williams
Mrs. Paul Dearing Fulwood, Sr., daughter of Mr. E. L. and Mary Etta Goodman Vickers was born in Tifton, Georgia, on March 3. 1892. She received her education at Tifton High School and Wesleyan College.
In 1910 she married Paul Dearing Fulwood, Sr., who the year before had begun experimenting in raising plants near what is now the airport in Tifton. For a while Mr. and Mrs. Fulwood lived in Tifton, but later they and the children, Paul and Ruth, moved to a crude little house in the woods, where the plants were growing.
It was not long, however, before Mrs. Fulwood with her artistic taste transformed the shack into an attractive home. She made curtains of seed bags, had the walls and exterior of the house painted, and planted radiance roses and other flowers in the well-kept yard. (Some of the same rose bushes are now growing in her garden in Tifton.) Morning-glories shaded her front porch, and two enormous cabbage plants growing in kegs on either side of her front steps attracted much attention. Since there was not enough room for the company bed and there were no day beds., then, Mrs. Fulwood cleverly improvised a drawer in the loft, where the extra bed stayed when not in use.
From this humble beginning of planting roses to beautifying a rustic cottage, Mrs. Fulwood has achieved national distinction as an authority in rose culture. She accepted invitations to speak about roses at the con- vention of the American Rose Society, at the Potomac Rose Society, Wash- ington, District of Columbia, at the American Rose Society in Knoxville, Tennessee, and in Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Fulwood has written magazine articles about roses. She is a member of the advisory board of the American Rose Society, representing the Southeastern section. Besides being presi- dent of the Tifton Garden Club, she served for two terms as president of the Georgia Rose Society.
Her home with its attractive gardens on Twelfth Street in Tifton is one of the beauty spots of South Georgia. Mrs. Fulwood has thousands of rare specimens of roses. Among the number are exotic rose trees. Her talent for beautifying does not end at her home ; her floral contributions are obvious on the hospital grounds, at Fulwood Park, and at the cemetery.
Mrs. Fulwood has contributed to the progress of Tifton in many other ways besides beautification. She was the first woman in Georgia to be president of a board of trade and probably the first one in the world. She was elected president of the Tifton Board of Trade in 1931. Mrs. Fulwood organized the first presidents' club in Georgia and the first P .- T. A. Coun- cil in Tifton. She directed at Abraham Baldwin College a rose school, which others in different sections of the county copied. During the time she was president of the Board of Trade, Mrs. Fulwood directed a spec-
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tacular pageant, to help cotton industry and made other effective contribu- tions to the development of Tifton.
Governor Richard B. Russell, Junior, appointed Mrs. Fulwod a member of the Georgia Committee to advertise the state and arrange for an exhibit at the World's Fair in Chicago. She was also appointed on a similar com- mittee for the World's Fair in New York.
In addition to her material contributions she is a vital force in the spiritual welfare of her native town. For many years Mrs. Fulwood has taught a Sunday School class at the Tifton Methodist Church and served in other religious organizations.
PAUL DEARING FULWOOD, SR. Ida Belle Williams
The name, Paul Dearing Fulwood, Sr., connotes plant development in Tifton. When a boy Paul ran away from home to éscape being a machinist, the choice of his father, C. A. Fulwood. At Fort Myers, Florida, young Fulwood worked with a man in the tomato plant industry. Deciding to become a planter himself, the boy returned to Tifton in 1909 and began raising plants near what is now the airport. The first year he planted thirty-five pounds of cabbage, nine pounds of tomatoes and bedded three- hundred-fifty pounds of potatoes.
After experimenting a while, young Fulwood went to the University of Georgia to study agriculture.
In 1910 he married Miss Ruth Vickers, and they lived in Tifton for a while, but later moved to the farm. There were few conveniences in the rustic cottage, but determined to have a telephone, he and his wife while standing in a wagon put up the wires.
The evolution of sales is interesting. During the first year people came to Mr. Fulwood to buy plants. His advertisements were placards on trees. The next step was to deposit his plants in stores, where sales would be easier. Then people living in different directions ordered tomato, cabbage, sweet potato, and onion plants. The idea of shipping dawned and Fulwood was the first person in this section to ship plants. His next progress was his connection with Massingale Advertising Agency. From the modest leaflet and pamphlet to the artistic pictorial calendar, the advertising pro- gram has grown. Now beet, onion, cabbage, potato, pepper, broccoli, to- mato, lettuce and brussel sprout seedlings are shipped.
Although one of the busiest men in the state, Mr. Fulwood observes vacation time by enjoying his hobbies, boating and swimming.
His versatility is further shown in his religious work. For twelve years Mr. Fulwood was superintendent of the Tifton Methodist Sunday School. He is also one of the county commissioners.
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Scenes on Farms in Tift County
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HISTORY OF TIFT COUNTY
Tomato plants used to lead the sales; however, in 1946 the Fulwood Company shipped 120,000,000 plants which grew from five thousand pounds of bedded potatoes, twelve thousand pounds of cabbage seed, twenty-seven-five hundred pounds of onion seed, and three thousand pounds of tomato seed. These plants are shipped in wet moss to practically every state in the country and to Hawaii. Such companies as Campbell Soup and Stokeley-Van Camp learned that Fulwood's seedlings grown in a field were stronger than those grown under glass. Campbell Company buys 80,000,000 tomato plants a year.
Mr. Fulwood's son, Paul Dearing, Junior, general manager of the com- pany, and ex-student of plant pathology at the University of Georgia, Howard Davis, and Baldwin Davis, Sr. (deceased), contributed much to the plant industry in Tift County. The Davises were the machinists of the company. Paul while studying at the University of Georgia proved in his thesis that plant diseases come through the seed. He is responsible for cer- tified seed in this section.
Hail and freezes used to cause Mr. Fulwood to lose thousands of dollars until he learned to replant soon after a loss.
The Fulwood farms cover about eighteen hundred acres of land, eight hundred of which have irrigation. The packing plant containing 45,000 square feet of floor space, is probably the largest packing house for vege- tables in the world. This industry, one of the largest in the country, pays plant pullers as much as twenty-eight dollars a day; the first year this labor brought seventy-five cents a day.
CHAPTER XXIV INDUSTRIES
THE SOUTHERN COTTON OIL COMPANY
The Southern Cotton Oil Company was organized in 1912 as the Planters' Cotton Oil Company. H. H. Tift was the first president; J. H. White, first manager. At first it was operated by local stockholders- among the number were W. W. Banks, E. P. Bowen, Sr., and H. H. Tift. The mill was sold in 1930 to the International Oil Company, which also operated mills in the Philippine Islands. At this time the mill was partly financed by a Boston Bank.
In 1936 the organization was sold to the Southern Cotton Oil Company. This mill has one of the largest cotton seed crushers in the country. From 1936 to 1941 the mill was operated only as an oil mill; in 1941 the com- pany put in a peanut shelling plant.
The Southern Cotton Oil Company is owned and controlled by South- erners from New Orleans, Louisiana. R. A. Kelly has been manager of the company since 1930.
ARMOUR ENTERS TIFTON TERRITORY
Co-incident with the first world war and the food and commodity prob- lems which accompanied it, Southern farmers adopted a program of diver- sification in which livestock naturally played an important role. Noting the considerable increase in the number of cattle and hogs being raised on Southern lands, Armour and Company looked about for a way to assist in the diversification movement by improving the marketing outlets for south- ern livestock growers. When a packing plant at Tifton was offered to the company at a reasonable price Armour bought it and thus became identi- fied with the livestock business in the southeast.
The Tifton Packing Company, financed largely by South Georgia farm- ers, had been in operation a year or two before Armour came into the ter- ritory. It seems probable that the promoters had under-estimated the im- portance of experienced management and established outlets to the retail trade, and in consequence the plant was not doing well financially despite satisfactory supplies of livestock in the Tifton territory.
Immediately following purchase of the plant, Armour took possession and on June 30, 1919 began operating it. The plant is equipped to handle the slaughter of cattle, hogs, sheep and calves and to process those cuts which require curing, smoking, rendering or other processing. The plant also operates a sausage kitchen.
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Full operation of the Tifton plant calls for the employment of about 250 people. When livestock receipts are heavy, employment runs a little higher and in times of scarcity employment drops somewhat.
In the depression period which followed several years after the ending of the first world war the livestock movement in the south suffered tem- porary relapse and in 1923 the plant had to be closed, primarily for lack of raw materials. By 1935 the pendulum had swung in the opposite direc- tion and November 4, 1935 the plant was reopened and has been in operation continuously since.
The plant draws its raw material supplies largely from Southern Geor- gia though it occasionally gets livestock from Northern Florida and from Alabama. Most of the products from the plant are sold in Armour and Company's branch houses located throughout the southeastern part of the country.
HISTORY OF TIFTON COTTON MILLS by L. E. Bowen
The Tifton Cotton Mill is by far the oldest manufacturing establishment in Tifton. The Corporation was formed in March, 1900, and began opera- tion in early 1901. It has manufactured carded cotton yarns throughout its entire history.
The first Board of Directors was composed of the following members : H. H. Tift, E. P. Bowen, W. S. Whitham, S. M. Clyatt, C. W. Ful- wood and L. G. Manard. Capt. H. H. Tift was the first president and served in that capacity until his death in 1922. Among other Tift County pioneers whose names have appeared in the records as Directors are: J. H. Hillhouse, W. W. Bank, Briggs Carson, A. B. Hollingsworth, T. A. Shipp, Jr., T. B. Puckett, N. P. Pinkston, C. R. Choate, R. W. Good- man. The offices of Secretary and Treasurer were filled during the first twenty-five years by L. G. Manard, T. B. Puckett, N. D. Pinkston and R. W. Goodman ; those filling the position of Plant Superintendent during the same years were: T. A. Shipp, Jr., W. R. Reed. and W. R. Neighbors.
The plant has been enlarged in three separate expansions from 3,584 spindles to the present 10,000 spindles. The mill buildings have been en- larged each time. The Village has increased over the years from twenty- five houses, originally, to eighty-one.
The name of Tift was closely identified with the corporation from its beginning to 1928, at which time it was purchased outright by E. P. Bowen, Sr., and his sons, E. P. Bowen, Jr., and L. E. Bowen. The Bowen interests are now its operators. Immediately following the death of H. H. Tift, Sr., his son became president and he was succeeded as president in 1924
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by H. H. Tift, Jr., who served until the Bowen interest took over. E. P. Bowen, Sr., was a member of the Board of Directors from the beginning in 1900 until his retirement in 1934. He was president at the time of his retirement. Today E. P. Bowen, Jr., is President, L. E. Bowen is Sec- retary and Treasurer and General Manager, L. E. Bowen, Jr., Assistant Manager, J. H. Wideman, Jr., assistant secretary, and T. B. Reynolds, superintendent.
The Tifton Cotton Mill, through its payroll, has contributed materially to the growth and progress of Tifton and Tift County throughout its en- tire existence of forty-six years. Today it regularly employs 350 to 400 people, operates three 40-hour shifts, has one of the largest payrolls in this section of the state, and consumes about 10,000 bales of cotton an- nually.
TIFTON COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY (Copied from Tifton Gazette)
In March 1900, Mr. Holmes became connected with the Tifton Bot- tling works, which then was located in the John Murrow building on Railroad Street. The company later moved to Main Street between Third and Fifth Streets, and in June, 1906, moved to the corner of Third and Railroad Streets. Here the bottling works remained until the new build- ing of the Tifton Coca-Cola Bottling Company was constructed at the corner of Love Avenue and Tenth Street, and the company occupied the new building in April 1937. When Coca-Cola first came out, the Tifton Bottling Works manufactured the beverage and was one of the first to do so in this section.
Mr. Holmes was a pioneer in the soft drink business in this section and the progress of that business advanced under his leadership. He was en- gaged in the business from the time the old Hutchinson, or rubber, bottle stopper was used until this day of modern machinery and bottle caps. In 1903 he originated the famous Red Race Ginger-Ale and had the drink copyrighted in 1905. Mr. Holmes was also agent for the Standard Oil Company in this section for twenty years. He retired from active business in 1943 because of ill health.
CHAPTER XXV MISCELLANEOUS PART I
FACTS COMPILED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Tifton, the county seat of Tift County, is located in the central portion of South Georgia and is about 195 miles South of Atlanta and 150 miles northwest of Jacksonville. Tift county is in the heart of the Coastal Plain area of South Georgia. Tifton is now the center of a thriving agricultural and trade area.
The city of Tifton has an area of 2.75 square miles or 1,776 acres. Tift County has an area of 243 square miles or 165,057 acres. The altitude is 350 feet above sea level. Annual mean temperature average 67 degrees. The average yearly rainfall is 48 inches.
The 1946 population of Tifton, including suburbs, is estimated at 10,000. Tift County 1946 estimated population 20,000. The form of gov- ernment is commission-manager.
The city tax rate is 2.3 mills, based on fifty per cent valuation; total assessment 1946, $4,952,744. Public utilities-valuation, $1,200,000 ap- proximate. The county tax rate is forty mills based on 40 per cent valua- tion. Total assessment 1946, listing homestead exemptions, $4,586,277.
Tifton has three schools-grammar, junior high and high school-with competent corps of 53 instructors, practically all of whom have degrees and some with the master's degree. The full enrollment reached 2,000 students. This overflow of pupils has made necessary a four-room addition at the grammar school. The system ranks high among the school systems of Georgia and has won the district and state banners in educational con- test. Many Tifton High graduates have been at the top in college work and have achieved distinction in different professions and trades. Music, speech, vocational work, including commercial courses, and physical training sup- plement the regular literary courses. Tifton High School Band and Blue Devils (football team) have won state-wide acclaim.
Tift county schools include eight modern school plants, conveniently located on public highways and railroads, provided with modern physical equipment and served by eighteen modern school busses. Tift County has seventy-seven white teachers with an enrollment in excess of 2,200 pupils, of whom about one-third attend the city schools. There are thirty-five colored teachers with an enrollment of over 1,100 pupils. Students com- pleting grade school in the county are brought to Tifton to complete their high school education.
The Tift County Board of Education employs and offers the following services in addition to regular class room instruction: one librarian and
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bookmobile; one home demonstration agent; three teachers of vocational agriculture ; three homemaking teachers; two instructors for veterans farm training program; one visiting teacher; one white supervisor and one colored supervisor.
Tifton has the following : one golf course; four hotels, Myon, Lankford Manor, Wilton, and Colonial; four tourist courts ; five schools ; one kinder- garten ; one business school; two nursery schools ; one college; one library; one bookmobile for rural area; three theaters, two white and one colored ; one band, Tifton High School Band.
The water comes from deep wells.
Tift County-Tift County is in many respects a banner Georgia county. Among the thriving and progressing towns in the county are: Omega, Ty Ty, Chula, Eldorado, Brookfield, Harding and Dosia.
Tift County soil is generally of the Tifton sand loam type, productive, well drained and adapted to the cultivation of a wide variety of farm com- modities, together with dairy, swine and beef production. There is a State Farmers' Market located at Tifton which handles produce for this area and there are cotton gins, cotton warehouses, tobacco warehouses, peanut shelling plants, cotton seed and peanut oil plants and frozen food lockers.
An illustrated pamphlet represents a modest effort to briefly portray some of the advantages and assets of the Tifton area. Much of importance -and pictures of interest-could not be included. A visit will mean more to you.
Occupations-The main occupations of Tifton and Tift County people, in the order of their importance, are: diversified agriculture, merchandis- ing, manufacturing and producing forestry products, including turpentine, lumber, rosin and pulp wood.
Agriculture-Because of soil advantages, Tift County claims to be the most diversified farming section of the South and the plant producing cen- ter of the United States.
The principal crops are: Plants, tobacco, peanuts, cotton, pecans, corn, potatoes, hay, sugar cane, livestock, poultry, bees and milk products. Truck crops produced include : watermelons, cantaloupes, tomatoes and other vegetables.
The following are the figures for produce handled at Tifton in 1945:
Peanuts
$ 3,292,000.00
Naval Stores
867,547.29
Pecans
330,158.50
Cotton and Cotton Seed
223,750.00
4.750,000.00
Bees and Honey
50,000.00
Tobacco
3,915,530.91
Livestock
3,750,000.00
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Produce (including watermelons, cantaloupes and potatoes) 1,000,000.00
$18,178,986.70
Tifton is famous for its tobacco sales through its five large warehouses. The figures for the 1946 sale are as follows: 10,817,178 pounds sold with a return of $4,331,419.82.
Armour and Company operates a packing plant in Tifton with several hundred employees. This provides a good local market for livestock and hogs and the packing plant cooperates with the farmers in their production problems.
Tifton is famous for its shipments of tomato, potato, cabbage, pepper and other plants and its bee industry. Plants are frequently transported by airplane to northern states. Queen bees and hives are shipped all over the United States. The growing of gladioli bulbs and flowers is becoming an important industry.
Recreation-In the Tifton area one can enjoy golfing, swimming, fish- ing, hunting, dancing, ball games and motoring. Fulwood Park, area of 35 acres, is equipped for picnicking, concerts, etc., and has a wading pool for children. Located just a short distance from town is the Tifton Country Club and Golf Course. There are three theatres-two white and one colored.
A $150,000.00 Recreation Center has been planned and construction of a swimming pool at a cost of $50,000.00 has been authorized. This Recrea- tion Center, when completed, will have baseball and football fields, tennis courts, bowling alleys, swimming pool with bath houses, pavilion, game rooms. Construction will begin as soon as building restrictions will permit.
Tourists-Tifton's location on U. S. Highway No. 41 and U. S. High- way No. 319 is the cause of a large tourist trade that has been built up during a number of years. This is particularly true of tourists who are traveling between Florida and points in the north and west. Four hotels, four tourist courts, two theatres, numerous cafes and tourist homes assist in supplying the needs of tourists.
Transportation-Tifton is served by two trunk line railway systems; namely, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Southern Railway. The At- lantic Coast Line now owns and operates the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad which also serves Tifton. Twenty passenger trains are operated in and out of Tifton daily. The average number of freight trains is fourteen. Greyhound Bus lines and National Trailways both serve Tif- ton. Tifton Bus Lines operate buses in Tifton and vicinity. Several freight truck lines serve Tifton. Tifton's municipal airport, located one and one- half miles from business section of Tifton, has three paved runways, each 5,000 feet in length. Dixie Airways supply a complete flying service from Tifton.
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