By Jed Blackwell
Editor

Photo By Jed Blackwell
Henry Gramling of Gramling Farms shows off a can of Gramling peaches. Gramling recalled his family’s canning operations and detailed the peach industry for a Peach History Tour group on Saturday morning.
The millions of peach trees that once produced a riot of pinks and whites along the highways of Spartanburg County are mostly gone now. Gone, too, are the packing sheds that sprung up alongside rail tracks, hustling the peaches on to their destinations in the freshest possible condition. But people who love the tradition of both, and people who want to learn more about the County’s not-so-distant past, are still very present.
Last Saturday morning, two trolleys full of people anxious to learn about the rich peach history of Spartanburg County departed the Hub City Railroad Museum at the old Magnolia Street train station for a two-hour tour through Spartanburg, Inman and Gramling, once the center of the peach trade in the area.
The event was sponsored by the Greenville Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society; the Spartanburg Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Spartanburg County Historical Association; and Main Street Trolley, Inc. The event included a presentation of local peach history, visits to Gramling Farms and Johnson Brothers Farms, and a scoop of homemade peach ice cream.
“The very purpose of the Hub City Railroad Museum is to bring history to life,” said Frank Ezell, a member of the National Railway Historical Society and a tour organizer. “Peaches were a huge industry in Spartanburg County, and went hand-in-hand with the railroad. We wanted to extend the opportunity for a living history lesson that shows the relationship between the peach growers and the railroad.”
Leading the tour was Clarence Vaden McMillin, Jr. “Mac”, as he is known today, grew up in Inman, graduated Chapman High School, and is the son of a former local dentist and peach farmer.
“My late grandfather, Landrum Reid McMillin, originally of New Prospect and later of Landrum, and my late father, Clarence Vaden McMillin of Inman, were growers, packers, and shippers of peaches from our family farm during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s,” McMillin explained. “Our farm was, and still is, located in the New Prospect community.”
As the trolley rolled through Hayne Shops, Ezell and McMillin explained the importance of the railroad to local peach growers, and to the local economy.
“A huge, nationwide demand for fresh southern-grown peaches developed,” McMillin explained. “In the 1930s, a well-connected, paved highway system did not yet exist. Shipping packed peaches to distant markets therefore posed a major problem, as peaches are very perishable, requiring quick delivery before spoiling. The railroads stepped up to the challenge, providing a fleet of dedicated boxcars that were cooled by ice to slow the ripening and spoiling process.”

Photo By Jed Blackwell
Six-year-old Benjamin Couch of Moore enjoys a scoop of homemade ice cream at BBB Farms near Inman during Saturday morning’s Peach History Tour.
For the rest of the story, see this week’s Inman Times.