Wayside: The Business of Fruit

"The Business of Fruit" wayside sign on North Manitou Island.

Quick Facts

Location:

45° 7' 20.43" N, 85° 58' 56.658" W

Amenities

1 listed

Audio Description

Main Exhibit Text

Heirloom fruit trees dot this island. They are a living reminder of the large commercial orchards of the past. In the 1880s, Frederic Beuham started an experimental orchard here with 500 trees. In 1894, he planted an additional 4,000 apple and pear trees by contracting with the Stark Brothers.

In the late 1890s, wholesale fruit dealers Franklin Newhall and son, Benjamin, from Chicago, Illinois, purchased land on the island for a large-scale commercial orchard. They bought the former Beuham-Stark orchard, and by 1900 controlled 8,350 acres, more than half the island. They grew cherries, pears, plums, and apricots. But apples, their most important cash crop, earned Franklin Newhall the title, “Apple King.” In the early 1920s, the Newhalls lost their island property to men who held their mortgage. The new owners formed the Manitou Island Syndicate, later known as the Manitou Island Association, which continued fruit production as an agricultural focus.

Background Image

The background of this exhibit is a sepia-colored historic photograph of an apple packing crew. They are posing outside a storage barn. There are six crew members, two men and four women, all smiling at the camera. The man on the left is sitting on the barn steps holding a stack of bushel basket lids. He is wearing dark pants, a white shirt, and a brimmed hat. Two women are standing to the right, in the barn doorway. They both are wearing casual, working dresses and one is wearing a light-colored hat. A man wearing pinstriped overalls is standing in front of them, holding a basket full of apples. Farthest to the right are two more women, wearing dresses suitable for working. Around the crew are many baskets full of apples. Most are stacked on top of one another, but seven baskets filled with apples are laid out in front, on display.

Caption

An apple packing crew pose outside the Newhall storage barn on North Manitou Island around 1910.