Oldest Apple Tree in the Pacific Northwest Lives On

Offspring of the Old Apple Tree live on in the Fort Vancouver Apple Orchard along the Land Bridge Trail.

NPS Photo.

Old Apple Tree, Vancouver, WA
Planted 1827 / Died 2021

Next Generation of the Old Apple Tree

The oldest apple tree in the Pacific Northwest lives on as its offspring shoots are replanted in the Apple Orchard along the Land Bridge Trail at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The Old Apple Tree was first planted in 1827:

"…a gentleman ate a fine apple in London and put the seeds in his vest pocket and thought no more about them until he arrived at Vancouver nine or ten months after, and having on the same vest at dinner, felt the seeds in his pocket, an from these seeds grew the first apple trees in on the Pacific—now the most famous country in the world for fruit.”
- Jesse Applegate, 1868

Park Rangers, in partnership with the City of Vancouver and local arborists, salvaged living shoots from the original Old Apple Tree and replanted them in the apple orchard west of the Fort Vancouver stockade, along the Land Bridge Trail. Here, nestled between the bastion and the Fort Vancouver Village, the oldest apple tree in the Pacific Northwest lives on for future generations.

Replanting of the Old Apple Tree offspring occured in January 2021. This included nine suckers directly harvested from the Old Apple Tree, and 8 grafted trees originating from the Old Apple Tree.

Offspring of the Old Apple Tree thrives in the Fort Vancouver Orchard

NPS Photo

A Pillar of our Community

In the 194 years since the Old Apple Tree was first planted to the west of Fort Vancouver, it has been a quiet constant through historical changes in Vancouver, Washington. The Old Apple Tree has seen canoes filled with furs arriving on the Columbia River in the 1830s. The tree saw the first US Army post in the Pacific Northwest serve as a major headquarters and supply depot during the Civil War and Indian War eras, and as a training post during the Spanish-American War. During the Great Depression, its green apples may have been plucked by hungry young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) when the post became a district headquarters for all Pacific Northwest’s CCC camps. In present times, the land where the Old Apple Tree once thrived and the location of the Old Apple Tree's offspring are protected by the National Park Service.

Bring the family to see the apple orchards at Fort Vancouver! Access the apple orchards via the Land Bridge Trail. The Land Bridge Trail begins on E 5th Street, just west of the Fort Vancouver stockade. You will also see the Fort Vancouver Village, beautiful views of Mt Hood, the Land Bridge, and the Vancouver Waterfront along the Land Bridge Trail.