Editing Vidalia, Georgia (section)

== Description and history ==
The town was incorporated on January 1, 1890.<ref name=gov>{{cite web|url= http://georgia.gov/cities-counties/vidalia|title= Vidalia|website= Georgia.gov |access-date= September 5, 2012}}</ref> It is the largest city in Toombs County, but it is not the [[county seat]].<ref name="Vidalia">{{cite web|url= http://www.dca.state.ga.us/cityscapes/comm.asp?D=1&city=Vidalia&YRID=|title= Vidalia|publisher= Georgia Department of Community Affairs |access-date= September 5, 2012}}</ref> The original name for the town was "Jenkins Station", after a local landowner, Warren T. Jenkins.<ref name="name_history">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/toombs-county/|title="Toombs County"|encyclopedia=New Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> Although several origins for the town's modern name have been suggested, it was most likely given by a daughter of Samuel Hawkins, the president of the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railroad (later the S.A.M shortline),<ref name="name_history"/> though which of his four daughters suggested the name, or how she came to it, is not known.

Like many towns in the region, Vidalia grew up around a [[rail yard]] that served farmers in the area who grew such crops as [[pecan]]s and [[tobacco]]. The [[Vidalia onion|area's famous onions]]<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.vidaliaonion.org/about_us| title= About Us| website= VidaliaOnion.org| publisher= The Vidalia® Onion Committee| access-date= March 17, 2016| quote= 'Vidalia onions aren't just the most famous onions in the world; I think they may be the only famous onions in the world.' —Chef [[Bobby Flay]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160316120108/http://www.vidaliaonion.org/about_us| archive-date= March 16, 2016| url-status= dead}}</ref> were not an important [[crop]] until much later.

From 1952 to 1956, Vidalia was home to the [[Vidalia Indians]], a Class D [[minor league baseball]] affiliate of the [[Cleveland Indians]]. Vidalia played in the [[Georgia State League]] and won the 1953 League Championship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?city=Vidalia&state=GA&country=US|title = Vidalia, Georgia Encyclopedia}}</ref>

In the 1950s, [[Piggly Wiggly]] grocery stores opened a distribution center in Vidalia, bringing with it a large influx of jobs as well as railroad business.  At that time, Vidalia served as an interchange junction between the [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad]] and the [[Georgia and Florida Railroad (1926–1963)|Georgia and Florida]]. For this, a large seven-track yard was constructed, as well as a sizable engine servicing facility and interchange yard. The latter, smaller interchange yard is still in use to some degree by the [[Georgia Central Railway]], while the larger yard was removed sometime in the 1970s. [[Dot Foods]] currently occupies most of the old Piggly Wiggly distribution center, with smaller companies leasing space.