Lower Peach Tree owes its name to 'extensive' Indian peach orchards

Creek Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins

For the past two weeks in this space, I’ve written about how the Sunny South community got its name. Those two columns generated a lot of response from readers, and I received a surprising number of e-mails and Facebook messages as a result. In addition, I also had half a dozen people ask me about how Lower Peach Tree got its name.

For readers unfamiliar with the Lower Peach Tree community, it’s located in southwest Wilcox County, on the west side of the Alabama River at the intersection of County Road 1 and County Road 35. If you look at a map, you’ll see that it’s not too far from Wilcox County’s borders with Clarke County and Monroe County. That portion of the river east of Lower Peach Tree is typically denoted on most maps as “Claiborne Lake” because it’s a relatively short distance north of the Claiborne Lock and Dam in Monroe County.

When it comes to how Lower Peach Tree got its name, there’s a decent amount of information out there. According to “Place Names in Alabama” by Virginia O. Foscue, the community was “given the same designation as that of one of the two Indian villages once in this area. Benjamin Hawkins (1754-1816), the Creek Indian agent, had introduced peaches to the Indians around 1800. During the Creek War of 1813-14, the soldiers finding peaches at these two abandoned Indian settlements called the southernmost one Lower Peach Tree and the other one Upper Peach Tree.”

I also checked my trusty copy of “Alabama Encyclopedia, Vol. 1: Book of Facts,” edited by Jesse M. Richardson, and that book also made brief mention of Lower Peach Tree. According to that source, soldiers during the Creek Indian War found the villages at Upper and Lower Peach Tree deserted, but they did find “extensive orchards of peaches.”

A friend also directed me to a book called “The Origins of Unusual Place Names” by Armond and Winifred Moyer. In that book, between the entries for Lovely, Kentucky and Loyal, Wisconsin, you’ll find a short entry for Lower Peach Tree. That book’s explanation for Lower Peach Tree’s name says that “the pioneers who landed on this spot along the Alabama River found a peach tree. The ‘Lower’ was added when it was learned that a Peach Tree was already established further north.”

That book also indicated that Upper Peach Tree was also known as Clifton. As many readers will know, the Clifton community was located on the west side of the Alabama River, due north of Yellow Bluff, between the river and State Highway 162. According to the Historical Atlas of Alabama, the Clifton/Upper Peach Tree community became a veritable ghost town after the Civil War.

In the end, I’d like to hear from any readers with more information about the early histories of Lower Peach Tree, Upper Peach Tree, Clifton and Sunny South. No matter how much is printed in books, there always seems to be more to the story, so let me hear from you.