Edward J. Bryan‘s roughly 2,600-acre peach and apple operation, built starting in 1903 around Reid’s Gap and entirely dependent on the L&N’s rail spur - the railroad sold Bryan land from its own holdings in 1905, and in 1912 helped him build a dedicated spur and tramway into the orchard. By 1914, Bryan had invested over $155,000 in the operation. Stranded when the railroad relocated through Hayden in 1914-15; Bryan abandoned commercial operation by the end of 1915, and lost two separate lawsuits against the L&N (1917, 1922). The land didn’t go entirely fallow - local newspapers in the 1920s and 1930s advertised “Mont Eyrie Elberta peaches” sold roadside to travelers on the new Bee Line Highway.
Full story: Mont Eyrie Orchards & the Fight With the Railroad.