​The peanut industry along Virginia's
​Salty Southern Route.

The peanut plant probably originated in Peru or Brazil in South America. No fossil records prove this, but people in South America made pottery in the shape of peanuts or decorated jars with peanuts as far back as 3,500 years ago. European explorers first discovered peanuts in Brazil. As early as 1500 B.C., the Incans of Peru used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life. Tribes in central Brazil also ground peanuts with maize to make a drink. Peanuts were grown as far north as Mexico when the Spanish began their exploration of the new world. The explorers took peanuts back to Spain, and from there traders and explorers spread them to Asia and Africa. Africans were the first people to introduce peanuts to North America beginning in the 1700s.

It wasn’t until the early 1800s that peanuts were grown as a commercial crop in the United States. Peanut production steadily grew the first half of the nineteenth century. Peanuts became prominent after the Civil War when Union soldiers found they liked them and took them home. Both armies subsisted on this food source high in protein. Their popularity grew in the late 1800s when P.T. Barnum’s circus wagons traveled across the country and vendors called “hot roasted peanuts!” to the crowds. Soon street vendors began selling roasted peanuts from carts, and peanuts also became popular at baseball games. 

Around 1900, labor-saving equipment was invented for planting, cultivating, harvesting and picking peanuts from the plants, as well as for shelling and cleaning the kernels. With these significant mechanical aids, demand for peanuts grew rapidly - especially for oil, roasted and salted nuts, peanut butter and candy.
 
P.D. Gwaltney Sr. established the first peanut-cleaning factory in Smithfield in 1880, and until 1921 when a fire destroyed Gwaltney-Bunkley Factory No. 1, paddle-wheeled steamships took peanuts from Smithfield to as far away as Amsterdam and Africa. At the turn of the century, Gwaltney said that the Gwaltney-Bunkley Peanut Company is "very much the largest peanut concern in the world.” Gwaltney-Bunkley sold out to Suffolk-based American Peanut Company soon after Gwaltney's death in 1915.
​By Jennifer Williams, Director of the Isle of Wight County Museum

Facts & Figures

•  The very first commercial peanut crop in Virginia was grown in Sussex County in the 1840’s. 
 •  Virginia peanuts are typically produced in only a few counties in the southeastern part of the state.
•  The U.S. is the largest producer and consumer of peanut butter in the world. 
•  The average peanut farm in the U.S. is 100 acres.
•  There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches. 
•  It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
•  Peanuts aren’t nuts; they’re legumes. It’s technically inaccurate to call it a nut, but it's usually refered to as one anyway.
•  Peanuts have more protein, niacin, folate and phytosterols than any other nut.
•  Peanuts and peanut butter contain over 30 essential nutrients and phytonutrients.
•  Peanuts are cholesterol-free and an ideal source of protein.
•  The average American consumes around 6 or 7 pounds of peanut butter every year.
•  The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating from high school.
•  Two peanut farmers have been elected president – Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
•  Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon.
By Jennifer Williams, Director of the Isle of Wight County Museum

The Language of Peanuts

Goober—a nickname for peanuts—comes from nguba, the Congo language name for peanut.

The Peanut Gallery - This term  became popular in the late 19th century and referred to the rear or uppermost seats in a theater, which were also the cheapest seats. People seated in such a gallery were able to throw peanuts, a common food at theaters, at those seated below them. It also applied to the first row of seats in a movie theater, for the occupants of those seats could throw peanuts at the stage, stating their displeasure with the performance.

By Jennifer Williams, Director of the Isle of Wight County Museum

More peanut facts can be found on the Virginia Carolina’s Peanut Promotions website.