Why This Small Georgia City Calls Itself 'The Watermelon Capital Of The World'

Georgia may be more famous for its peaches and peanuts, but there's one small city that is touting itself as king of everyone's favorite summertime fruit: watermelon. Yes, the city of Cordele is the self-proclaimed "Watermelon Capital of the World." Located in southern Georgia, Cordele is the county seat of Crisp County, and it's the place where farmers grow and ship more than 200 million pounds of the sweet red and green melon.

While Georgia isn't the No. 1 state for producing watermelons (that honor goes to its neighbor to the south, Florida), the state actually ranks second, thanks to its climate and favorable soil in the central and coastal plains regions. The Cordele region is the hub for watermelon production in the state, but the watermelon capital title isn't just about quantity. For citizens of Cordele, the distinction is also tied to the quality of the product. 

Officials claim on the Cordele-Crisp Chamber of Commerce website that they won out over challenges in the 1990s from Hope, Arkansas, and Hempstead, Texas. According to the website, "The competition was tough, but Cordele-Crisp County proved that we truly have the best melons anywhere in the WORLD and proudly retained our title. Our melons were deemed as the crispest, juiciest, and sweetest. This is due to the hot, dry nights and the type of soil in Crisp County."

Communities all over the world celebrate the watermelon in different ways. For example, in China, the No. 1 producer of watermelon in the world, the melon is a popular hostess gift. In Cordele, the tradition is to hold a gigantic community festival. Since 1949, the citizens of Cordele and surrounding areas celebrate the summer harvest with the Watermelon Days Festival, the oldest festival in the state. It showcases watermelon chunking and seed-spitting contests, a parade and a beauty pageant. As far as we know, the Georgia festival is more low-key than the one in Australia, where people replace skis with watermelon. But there's no doubt it's a sweet celebration of the striped melons that drive the economy and bond the community.

According to Watermelon.org, at least six other farming communities in the United States use some version of the "watermelon capital" tagline. Like Cordele, most of them hold a town festival in honor of the fruit. Since Cordele is not far from Jimmy Carter's family farm in central Georgia, it's worth noting that one of the other watermelon cities also has ties to a president. Hope, Arkansas, the birthplace of Bill Clinton, also birthed one of the world record holders for largest watermelon. But Cordele still holds onto the bragging rights, at least in their own estimations.