This is "Actual Factual DeKalb," a regular column in which I answer reader questions about goings-on and history in DeKalb County.
This time, a question many have pondered: Why does DeKalb Avenue smell like pie?
From Clifton and Oakdale roads, the smell hangs over DeKalb Avenue.
On a windy day, it might mingle with automobile exhaust or swirl with the scent of fresh blooms and bonfire char from the last drum circle at the Lake Claire Community Land Trust.
Runners might slow their pace to investigate.
Drivers, too.
Atlantans often wonder the source of the smell of pie (yes, pie) along the busy street on the east side of town. But with a bit of searching, the source is clear.
Near the Edgewood MARTA Station sits the old Edwards Pie Factory. The plant, now run by the Schwan Food Company, is on Mayson Avenue, with the main entrance showing the (apparently fictitious) address One Lemon Lane.
A sign on the security guard’s booth proclaims that the company is responsible for “THE WORLD’S BEST PIES.”
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It seems like a joke: in a hip, at once rustic and idyllic corner of the capitol of The South, the scent of butter and sweet crust hangs. The inviting scent seeps from a drab old brick building, intoxicating residents and visitors of the gentrifying neighborhoods of Edgewood, Candler Park and Lake Claire.
But it’s true.
Back in 2010, the AJC's longtime food critic John Kessler got a tour of the factory and wrote of "The Smell."
“Oh, that most excellent smell! That consciousness-piercing smell of buttery goodness filling the ether, of a thousand grandmas leaning over a thousand window ledges and holding out fresh-from-the-oven pie.”
“Pie!” he continued. “Pie. Pie. Pie. Pie.”
He then went on with a bit of history.
The factory started as a retail bakeshop some 70 years ago and now produces both Edwards and Mrs. Smith's branded pies that can be found at Kroger, Publix and Target, among others. It also churns out a number of signature pies served in quick-service and family restaurants.
The plant puts out some 140,000 pies every day, by Kessler’s 2010 figuring.
In all, 42 million pies (Key lime, pecan, Hershey’s Chocolate Creme and so on) come from the outpost per year.
The food critic wrote of the lines carrying pie after pie through production, which includes stops in a 100-foot-long oven, a giant freezer, the boxing line and an X-ray scanner to make sure the boxes are free of foreign objects.
But, of course, Kessler had more in mind than the process. Like so many residents, passersby and MARTA riders sniffing in the breeze, Kessler was interested in the result of the process.
He approached an oven and stood at its side, breathing deeply.
And he thought to himself, "I recognize this smell."
— I am a staff writer with the AJC and a proud DeKalb County resident. To submit “Actual Factual DeKalb” questions, contact me at joshua.sharpe@ajc.com, @JoshuaWSharpe on Twitter or via the form below.
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