Established in 1898, the Suffolk Peanut Company is significant for representing the early history of an industry which once dominated the economy of southeast Virginia. The company was the first successful peanut operation in the region and is likely the largest and most intact surviving historic peanut processing complex in Virginia. At the time of its listing, many of the buildings on the site dated to within a few years of Suffolk Peanut Company’s founding. The warehouses and processing buildings represent the full range of functions historically associated with the site. As a result, the property retains a high degree of historic material and integrity. The Suffolk Peanut Company complex features a two-pronged railroad spur and long loading dock that abuts a historic Norfolk & Western railroad line, revealing the very close relationship between the industry and rail transportation in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The earliest structure in the complex, Warehouse #3, was built in 1903. In 1968, the facility was sold to Goldkist Inc., which ended the property’s link to the historically important Suffolk Peanut Company.