World's Largest Peanut (Gone)

Ashburn, Georgia

Although many covet the crown, the King of Giant Peanuts still rules from its cylindrical brick perch along Interstate 75 in Ashburn.

Lesser peanuts are venerated by the townspeople of Floresville, Texas, and Pelion, South Carolina, as well as Dothan, Alabama ("Peanut Capital of the Word"), and a previous World's Largest Peanut in Durant, Oklahoma. Other also-rans are in the Georgia vicinity, shrimpy goobers in Blakely and Sylvester.

But none of these towns have a serious contender to unseat Ashburn's symbol of local enterprise.

In excellent repair, lovingly maintained, the World's Largest Peanut is as fresh as the day it was manufactured. Floodlights surround it; bicycle reflectors are on the tips of the crown on which it sits to catch the light. A plaque on its brick base says that the peanut was erected on February 15, 1975, was designed by A.R. Smith, Jr., and was dedicated to the memory of Nora Lawrence Smith, member of the Georgia Journalism Hall of Fame and co-publisher of Wiregrass Farmer. It's easy to find, on a service road cul de sac next to I-75.

The only other nut worth its salt is the Jimmy Carter Peanut, an hour's drive northwest in Plains.