From the Living Museum
Esopus Spitzenburg
- Origin
- Esopus, Ulster County, New York, before 1790
- Era
- Before 1790
- Type / use
- Dessert
From the ArchiveFilm
Watch its story
The First of Apples
A short narrated history of Esopus Spitzenburg, told through the archive illustrations of our apple collection.
Illustrations: Ellen Isham Schutt (1912) and Royal Charles Steadman (1926), USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection, National Agricultural Library (public domain). Narrated with a synthetic voice.
Watch on YouTubeHistory & Stories
One of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apples; he planted it extensively at Monticello and praised it highly. Medium-to-large red fruit with crisp, juicy, intensely aromatic, complex sweet-tart flesh carrying spicy notes. Unique for the direct presidential endorsement, its refined dessert quality, and its status as one of the great early American apples. Late season and good keeper when well-grown.
Folklore & Name
Named for Esopus, Ulster County, New York. One of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apples; he planted it at Monticello and praised it. Classic early American dessert apple of the highest reputation.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Esopus Spitzenburg is named for Esopus, in Ulster County on the Hudson River. A.J. Downing described Esopus as "a famous apple district, originally settled by the Low Dutch," where the apple was "still raised in its highest perfection" 1. Nobody recorded who first grew it or when: S.A. Beach found "no authentic account of the date of its origin," only that it stood in New York's oldest orchards 2. The UK National Fruit Collection gives "known before 1790" 3. In 1817 William Coxe wrote that it was "said to have originated in the vicinity of Albany" 4, so even the old books differ a little on where.
Thomas Jefferson ordered "12. Spitzenberg apples" from William Prince's nursery at Flushing on 6 July 1791 5. Monticello records that he planted thirty-two Esopus Spitzenburg trees in the South Orchard between 1807 and 1812 6. Downing called it "a handsome, truly delicious apple," and Beach called it the "standard of excellence" for its class, while noting it cropped only moderately and suffered from scab 1,2. The National Fruit Collection lists it as a parent of Jonathan 3. From 1988 to 2020 it was the second most-requested apple in the USDA collection at Geneva, New York 7.
The competing accounts
- A.J. Downing 1: from Esopus, the old Dutch-settled district on the Hudson, where it was still grown at its best.
- S.A. Beach, 1905 2: found "no authentic account" of when it arose, only that it stood in New York's oldest orchards.
- William Coxe, 1817 4: said to have arisen near Albany, further up the Hudson.
- UK National Fruit Collection 3: known before 1790.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): the Hudson Valley of New York before 1790, probably at Esopus. The name and Downing's local knowledge point there; Coxe's Albany report is hearsay he did not vouch for.
What we think: stories & traditions
Jefferson's favorite? Monticello counts it as one of his two favorite apples, along with the Albemarle Pippin 6. His 1791 letter only says "Spitzenberg," though, so we can't be certain which Spitzenberg he first received.
A Dutch valley seedling. The likeliest story is the one the name tells: a chance seedling in the orchards of the Dutch farmers of Esopus, admired and grafted by neighbors long before anyone wrote it down. That is a theory built from the name and the place, not a recorded fact.
Sources
- A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (New York: J. Wiley, 1869 printing), "Esopus Spitzenburgh," pp. 105–106. archive.org/details/cu31924050513989/page/105
- S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (Albany: J.B. Lyon, 1905), "Esopus Spitzenburg," pp. 120–122. archive.org/details/applesofnewyork01beaciala/page/120
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Esopus Spitzenburg." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?fruit=apple&id=1903
- William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (Philadelphia: M. Carey and Son, 1817), "Esopus Spitzemberg," p. 127. archive.org/details/viewofcultivatio00coxerich/page/127
- Thomas Jefferson to William Prince, 6 July 1791, Founders Online, National Archives. founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-20-02-0254
- Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Monticello), "Esopus Spitzenburg Apple." www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/esopus-spitzenburg-apple
- USDA-ARS Plant Genetic Resources Unit, Geneva NY, "Apple Impact," Table 5 (Esopus Spitzenburg, PI 588785). www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/geneva-ny/plant-genetic-resources-unit-pgru/apple-collection/apple-impact/
Curious about Esopus Spitzenburg?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.