The flowers may be gone, but the memory still blooms.
A new historical marker has been placed in front of Dyersburg Primary School to honor the land once known as Peony Ridge. Danny Walden of the Dyersburg Historical Society said, “I’m pleased to announce that the newest historic marker in Dyer County has been installed.”
Walden went on to thank The Garden Club and Dyer County Schools whom helped bring the project together. Long before the school opened in the early 1990s, the ridge held one of the most successful peony farms in the South.
According to the marker, After World War I, Dr. A. J. Knapp developed a 200 acre farm east of the city limits. Peony Ridge soon shipped hundreds of thousands of blooms each year by rail to Chicago for Mother’s Day sales. During the 1930s, ownership passed to C. B. Ford, but large scale production ended during World War II. Smaller plots of peonies continued growing on the ridge until the mid 1950s.
Peonies have a far older history, first cultivated in China more than 2,000 years ago for both medicine and decoration. From there, the plants spread into Japan, later reaching Europe and western North America during the 1800s.
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