CORNELIA, Ga. – For years, cotton was king throughout Georgia.
But, by the 1920s, apples were becoming an important crop in parts of the state, including Cornelia. Because of the crop diversification, Habersham County skirted the devastating effects of the boll weevil’s destruction of the cotton crop.
So, in 1925, Southern Railway donated to the city a monument dedicated to the fruit that helped save their community. The seven-foot-tall, 5,200-pound apple statue was molded in Winchester, Va., and sits atop an eight-foot-tall concrete pedestal next to the train depot in the center of town.
The apple was dedicated on June 4, 1926, and a number of dignitaries, including U.S. Sen. Walter F. George attended the event.
By the mid 1930s, the apple crop nearly spelled doom from the city, but the statue remained as a reminder of the city’s past.
Like the apple crop, the passenger train soon faded from the city that once saw 16 passenger trains per day. But, as was the case with the apple statue, the train depot is a constant reminder of a bygone era.
Cornelia – “Home of the Big Red Apple,” as it is known – is located along Ga. Highway 365 about 75 miles north of Atlanta.
