The Extraordinary History Of Cherries

In Celebration of National Cherry Month, here are some interesting historical facts about Tart Cherries.

Cherries have pleased the palates of food lovers for centuries. Their ruby-red color and tangy taste won cherries a place on the tables of Roman conquerors, Greek citizens and Chinese noblemen. For history buffs, you might like to know that:

• Cherries were brought to America by ship with early settlers in the 1600s.
• Cherry trees were part of the gardens of French settlers as they established such cities as Detroit, Vincennes, and other Midwestern settlements.
• Modern day cherry production began in the mid-1800s. Peter Dougherty was a Presbyterian missionary living in northern Michigan. In 1852, he planted cherry trees on Old Mission Peninsula (near Traverse City, Michigan). Much to the surprise of the other farmers and Indians who lived in the area, Dougherty’s cherry trees flourished and soon other residents of the area planted trees.
• The first commercial tart cherry orchards in Michigan were planted in 1893 on Ridgewood Farm near the site of Dougherty’s original plantings. By the early 1900s, the tart cherry industry was firmly established in the state with orchards not only in the Traverse City area, but all along Lake Michigan from Benton Harbor to Elk Rapids.

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  The first cherry processing facility, Traverse City Canning Company, was built just south of Traverse City, and the ruby-red fruit was soon shipped to Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee.

• Today, on average, the United States produces more than 650 million pounds of tart and sweet cherries. Michigan grows about 75 percent of the U.S. crop of tart cherries, usually about 250 million pounds.

To learn even more about cherries – their history, the cherry industry, taxonomy, cultivars, processing – please visit our All About Cherries Page.