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USA map showing location of South CarolinaSouth Carolina map showing location of Gaffney

The two RV Gypsies
in Gaffney, South Carolina

May 20-21, 2013

The Two RV Gypsies stayed at Spartanburg NE / Gaffney KOA in Gaffney, South Carolina. No photos of the campground were taken, but here are a few comments; The Internet was secured and fast, and the lady at the office was very nice.

The two RV Gypsies visited Karen Duquette's relatives in Gaffney, South Carolina. Below is a panorama view from their back porch.

view from the back porch in Gaffney

Then the two RV Gypsies went to Millwood Park to see The famous Peachoid Water Tower.

Millwood Park sign in SC
dedication plaque

Below: The Peachoid Water Tower along Interstate 85 in Millwood Park in Gaffney.

history clipart bookThe Peachoid (known locally as The Peach) was commissioned to be built in 1980-81 by the Gaffney Board of Public Works, and contractors took five months to design and mold the steel. A seven ton, 60-feet long leaf was applied to one side. A New Jersey artist, Peter Freudenberg, painted the sphere after studying local peaches for many hours. It took fifty gallons of paint in twenty colors.

The Peachoid is 135 feet tall. The water tower holds one million U.S. gallons of water and is located off Peachoid Road by Interstate 85 between exits 90 and 92 (near the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway). The water tank is visible for several miles around these exits.

The Peachoid was built in 1981 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, of steel and concrete. An overlay stem and leaf were laid across the structure, an enormous "cleft" was created with steel paneling, and Peter Freudenberg, an artist who worked with macro-art, painted the structure to realistically resemble a peach.

The Peachoid was commissioned by the Gaffney Board of Public Works, who had a need for elevated water storage and wished to find a way of building it using federal funding. The shape of the peach was selected because the Gaffney economy was then dependent upon peach orchards, and because the people of the town wanted to make clear that South Carolina, and once upon a time Cherokee County alone (where Gaffney is located) produced more peaches per year than the entire state of Georgia (known as the "Peach State"). Since its construction, the Peachoid's extremely high visibility has introduced an element of tourism to the local economy, and a smaller (500,000 U.S. gallons,) Peachoid has been built for Clanton, Alabama by the same company. (Note: The two RV Gypsies have seen both of them and both can be seen on this website.)

According to official literature, the South Carolina Peachoid boldly "sets the record straight about which state is the biggest peach producer in the South. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT Georgia." South Carolina produces more peaches.

Gaffney's Nickname is "Peach Capital of South Carolina". The state of Georgia is known as the "peach state" although these two Peach Water towers are in SC and Alabama, not in Georgia. Although there was once one in Byron, Georgia but it is gone now.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2213

Karen Duquette at The Peachoid - The Big Peach in Gaffney, S.C.
The Peachoid - The Big Peach in Gaffney, S.C.

NOTE FYI: The two RV Gypsies also visited the Peach Water Tower in Alabama. If you choose to check out the Alabama peach tower, there will be a link there to return you here.

The Gaffney Water Tower shown here is larger and double the volume of the Alabama tower.

The Peachoid - The Big Peach in Gaffney, S.C.
The Peachoid - The Big Peach in Gaffney, S.C.
 

Then the two RV Gypsies drove past Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC), manufactures premium vehicle chassis for walk-in cabs, motor homes, school buses and commercial buses. Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation is based in Gaffney, S.C., where it employs more than 900 people at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.

Lee Duquette went to the Freightliner Factory and took a tour of the factory, which he enjoyed.

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation
Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation

Menu for the Two RV Gypsies 2013 Adventures
in South Carolina
You may visit these four sites in any order you choose.
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Lake Hartwell State Park
in Anderson, South Carolina

Millwood Park and
The Big Peach water tower
in Gaffney, S.C.

Raven Cliff Falls
Caesars Head State Park
in Cleveland, S.C.

Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
in Cleveland S.C.

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The Two RV Gypsies in North Carolina
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