Summary: In the 1920s, county seat Weatherford was producing more watermelons than anywhere else in the world... neither visitors nor many locals may be aware that long before Parker County was the peach capital, it was the “World’s Best Watermelon Center.
Latest Update: Monday, 07 July 2023
Texas Highway, 07 July 2023, Excerpts
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In the 1920s, county seat Weatherford was producing more watermelons than anywhere else in the world... neither visitors nor many locals may be aware that long before Parker County was the peach capital, it was the “World’s Best Watermelon Center.
It may surprise Texas peach lovers that Parker County—not Fredericksburg, where peach orchards proliferated before wineries took over—has been designated the official Peach Capital of Texas since 1991. This year marks the festival’s 38th year, and as an exaggerated microcosm of agriculture’s hold over the region, the annual event gives visitors a glimpse into the community’s affection for peaches.
In the early 1900s, people far and wide knew of Parker County watermelons. The story—at least as told by those whose families have been here long enough to know—is that banker G.A. Holland of Weatherford and Luther Lyle of Peaster shipped a variety of Parker County watermelons to the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, where 12 claimed the top prize for their impressive weights. As a result, Parker County was put on the world map for agricultural success.
The achievement quickly sparked a craze countywide, pulling new growers out of the woodwork. On any given market day for the next 20 years, wagonfuls of melons would fill the same town square that’s home to the Peach Festival a century later.
Similar to how today’s residents celebrate the peach, the entire community was once adorned with watermelon memorabilia—from colorful displays at roadside stands to the drumhead of the high school band (even though the mascot was the kangaroo) to a county postcard that proudly proclaimed itself as the “World’s Greatest Watermelon Center.” In 1928, a giant watermelon statue even represented Parker County in the West Texas Chamber of Commerce parade. Afterwards, the colossal tin melon sat atop a wooden landing on the courthouse lawn for over a decade. “And no one knows where it went,” Gary says, chuckling.
Watermelon continued to lead as Parker County’s favorite fruit through the 1960s, and it was still named among the world’s best by the New York Times as late as 1993. No one quite remembers when Parker County watermelon had finally become a thing of the past, and more importantly, an exact reason why.
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