History

Fort Valley was founded in the 1820s as a Native American trading post at the intersection of two early Indian trails. That crossing of trails made it a natural place for North Carolinian James Abbington Everett to set up a trading post. Everett was joined by Mathew Dorsey, Peter Greene and William and Allen Wiggins in settling the new community.

The origin of the town's name is unclear. One story claims that Everett named it "Fox Valley" but that his writing was misread by post office officials in Washington, D.C., as "Fort Valley." Another story claims that Everett named the town after his friend Arthur Fort, a Revolutionary War (1755-1838) hero from nearby Milledgeville. In any case, it seems that there was never a military fort on the site.

According to United States Post office for the period 1789-1930 now kept in the National Archives, a post office was established in Fort Valley, Crawford County, Ga., on Dec. 7, 1825, with Everett as postmaster. No other name for this office was found in the archives.

In a letter to the late Thelma Wilson, W.H. Harris wrote many years ago, "The post office of Fort Valley was originally in Crawford County. The county lines didn't move as they later did from Houston to Peach County, but Fort Valley moved. It was originally about two miles out on the Atlanta Highway."

James Everett became a wealthy and influential plantation owner, donating funds for the education of Georgians and using his influence to ensure that the railroad came through his new town, although he died before the first train pulled into the station in Fort Valley. The railroad played a key role in the town's development.

Splitting the city in half north and south, the railroad has played a prominent and important role in the growth of Fort Valley. A large brick freight depot was built on the west side of what is now Main St. in 1871 and a passenger terminal was added in 1900.

At one point, passenger and freight traffic through Fort Valley was so heavy two large hotels, the Winona at Main St. and the Bassett (also known as the Watson House and the Central Hotel) at Hwy. 96, were built to house the many visitors to the city. The Winona was torn down in the mid-1960s and the Bassett was destroyed by fire in 2006.

For many years the primary method of shipping peaches to northern markets was by rail, so trains crowded the multiple tracks in downtown Fort Valley 24 hours a day during the hectic summer days of Peach season.

An interesting picture of pioneer days around Fort Valley was preserved in "Reminiscenses of Fort Valley," by Mrs. Osborn Rogers Flournoy.

She wrote, "The early settlers of Fort Valley, men and women of piety, culture and wealth, were attracted from other states by the farming lands. Although the first houses were built of logs, they were afterwards replaced by timbered dwellings in colonial style. These homes had no clothes closets, waterworks nor artificial lights, but they did have spacious rooms with lofty ceilings and huge fireplace.

"Each house had its flower garden, English style, laid out in beds with walks edged in boxwood, the whole surrounded by white picket fence and a close-trimmed hedge. Outside of these grounds were the usual groves of oaks, under which were the plantation out-buildings. All kinds of fruit, vegetables, cattle and poultry were raised to support the family."