The two RV Gypsies compared history and sizes of
two similar water towers

The Peachoid in Gaffney, South Carolina
(seen on April 15, 2019 and May 21, 2013)

plus The Big Peach in Clanton Alabama seen in 2014

The 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 at one 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.

According to official literature, the 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."

above quote from http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2213

On the way to Hatcher Garden in Spartanburg, SC in 2019, Karen Duquette photographed The Peachoid in Gaffney, South Carolina through the window of the moving car.

The Peachoid in Gaffney, South Carolina is 135 feet tall. The water tower holds one million U.S. gallons of water.

Below: Karen Duquette standing under The Peachoid, May 21, 2013

Below: The Big Peach in Clanton, Alabama in 2014

Clanton's big peach is 120 feet tall, and holds 500,000 gallons of water - but it is not the biggest. The Peachoid in Gaffney, SC, is larger and double the volume. Photo taken by Karen Duquette in 2014.

Below: Rolling hills along the way in South Carolina in 2019

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