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"Old Apple Tree", Vancouver, Washington.
Currently the "Old Apple Tree" and the "Old Apple Tree Park" are closed and the area is under construction. This picture was taken with permission obtained from the construction crew. Upon completion the Old Apple Tree Park will be one of the endpoints for Vancouver's "Land Bridge" over Washington State Highway 14, connecting Fort Vancouver with the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.
Image taken April 5, 2007.
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"Old Apple Tree" ...
Vancouver, Washington's "Old Apple Tree" ("Mallus spp.") was one of five seeds planted in late 1826 and then eventually placed outside of the gates of the first Fort Vancouver. The seeds for the tree were brought over from England by Emilius Simpson. The "Columbian.com" Website, covering local history of Vancouver, tells the story:
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"... It all started at a party in London ... A lady at a farewell dinner party for Lieut. Emilius Simpson, the cousin of Hudson's Bay governor Sir George Simpson, playfully put the seeds of her desert apple into his waistcoat pocket. She asked him to plant them when he arrived at his destination on the other side of the world.
Emilius Simpson arrived in Vancouver in November of 1826 and was soon invited to dine with Dr. McLoughlin in the stockade on the present Deaf School site. During the evening he absentmindedly stuck a finger into his waistcoat and discovered the seeds.
Dr. McLoughlin, Simpson and Pierre C. Pambrun planted the apple seeds in small boxes which were put under glass. Dr. McLoughlin kept the boxes in the store where they could not be touched.
The apple tree was planted outside the fort when he felt it could survive. Around 1830, Washington's first apple harvest occurred. It was here in Vancouver, and produced one apple. ..."
["Columbian.com" Website, 2007, "Local History, Old Apple Tree"]
Today the "Old Apple Tree" is the centerpiece for the "Old Apple Tree Park", and soon will be one of the endpoints for the "Land Bridge and Interpretive Trail" being built to connect the Fort Vancouver and Vancouver National Historic Reserve area with Vancouver's Waterfront and the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.
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Offspring ...
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Throughout the years cuttings from the "Old Apple Tree" have been rooted and planted and have survived, including one planted in 1950 next to the Clark County Historical Museum.
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Old Apple Tree Park ...
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Vancouver's Old Apple Tree Park was dedicated on October 19, 1984.
Every year the City holds the "Old Apple Tree Festival" on the first Saturday in October at the Old Apple Tree Park.
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Land Bridge ...
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The "Land Bridge" is a 40-foot-wide earth-covered bridge currently under construction (April 2007) beginning on the west side of Fort Vancouver and will arch over Washington State Route 14 and end at the Old Apple Tree Park. Construction on the bridge began in 2006 and is expected to be finished in the fall of 2007, hopefully in time for Vancouver's annual "Old Apple Tree Festival". During construction the Old Apple Tree Park is closed to visitors.
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Click image to enlarge
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Pathway to the "Old Apple Tree", Vancouver, Washington.
Currently the path to the apple tree and the "Old Apple Tree Park" is closed and the area is under construction (picture above obtained with permission of the construction crew). Upon completion the Old Apple Tree Park will be one of the endpoints for Vancouver's "Land Bridge" over Washington State Highway 14, connecting Fort Vancouver with the Waterfront Renaissance Trail. (This tree is not the Old Apple Tree. The apple tree is just visible at the other end of the tunnel.)
Image taken April 1, 2007.
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Click image to enlarge
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Pathway to the "Old Apple Tree", Vancouver, Washington.
Currently the path to the apple tree and the "Old Apple Tree Park" is closed and the area is under construction (picture above obtained with permission of the construction crew). Upon completion the Old Apple Tree Park will be one of the endpoints for Vancouver's "Land Bridge" over Washington State Highway 14, connecting Fort Vancouver with the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.
Image taken April 5, 2007.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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