History of Florida Orange Trees
Today, 90 percent of orange juice consumed by Americans comes from Florida oranges. Florida contains roughly 65 million commercially grown orange trees. In Florida, the history of orange trees is ultimately tied to its fruit and fruit products. Does this Spark an idea?
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1500s
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Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer, planted the first orange trees in Florida in the mid-1500s. By 1565, the orange tree was firmly established in Florida.
Late 1700s
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The explorer, William Bartram, noted wild orange tree groves along a river in Florida around 1773. His observation is recorded in his book "Travels."
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Early 1800s
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In 1828, Douglas Dummitt, the first commercial grower of orange trees, sold his first crop. He continued to expand his groves. He created a sweet and sour hybrid around 1835. By 1859, his trees produced 60,000 oranges each year.
1880s
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Major east coast cities like Philadelphia and New York City began consuming Florida oranges, providing a reliable market.
1890 to 2000
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A severe frost set back the industry in 1894, 1895, 1899 and 1916 Florida lost some of its orange trees to the frost. The fledgling California orange industry picked up the slack. The growers, who remained in Florida, moved further south. Eventually, Florida recovered domination of the orange market.
2004 to 2009
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Florida lost one-fifth of its orange trees to disease, property development and hurricanes. One percent of the trees fell to the disease called citrus greening.
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