The Montmorency tart cherry has an incredibly proud history of offering an entire range of incredible natural wellness benefits.
In reality, the Montmorency tart cherry has traveled the globe from Asia-Minor to Europe and finally brought to the new world by the early pilgrims in 1600′s.
The tart cherry has pleasured the tastebuds of people for countless centuries. This little ruby-red stone fruit offering a tart yet tangy taste has won it a location on the tables of Roman conquerors, Chinese nobleman and Greek citizens alike.
After arriving in the New World, the tart cherry quickly spread across the country. Ultimately, the fruit ended up being grown commercially in various states including New York, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Michigan. In fact, one region that is an area in Michigan has earned the title “Cherry Capital of the World”. The largest city in this area is known as Traverse City. This region of Northwestern Lower Michigan produces approximately 70% of U.S. tart cherry production.
The Person Credited for Planting the First Tart Cherry Tree
The pioneer who is widely credited to carrying the tart cherry to Michigan is Mr. Peter Dougherty.
In 1852, Mr. Dougherty, a Presbyterian missionary planted the very first tart cherry tree on Old Mission Peninsula. This unique peninsula is near Traverse City, Michigan. After his very first trees were effective, several of his neighbors also began planting cherry crops and the 1st official commercial tart cherry orchards in Michigan had been planted in 1893 on Ridgewood Farm on Old Mission Peninsula. In reality, this 1st commercial farm was incredibly near the actual site of Dougherty’s original trees.
By the early 1900s, the Michigan cherry industry was quickly spreading from Old Mission Peninsula to a number of surrounding cities and towns up-n-down the Lake Michigan coastline. These areas include Traverse City, Central Lake, Benton Harbor and Elk Rapids.
The very first tart cherry processing building was called Traverse City Canning Enterprise and was built just south of Traverse City. Once harvested and processed, the cherry was soon shipped to major cities across America including Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee.
Since it’s first harvest and as the years passed, the cherry has offered a number of cherry-based products including the fresh fruit, dried cherries, cherry juice and more.