Nebraska City

When J. Sterling Morton planted the first apple trees on his property in the 1850s, there is no way he could have foreseen how important orchard life would be to Nebraska City. In the 1920s, Joy Morton and Grove Porter teamed up to create one of the largest commercial apple orchards in the Midwest. By 1934, they had over 300 acres of orchards and vineyards, with more than 17,000 trees. Production topped 100,000 bushels annually, and the Morton Orchard apples were shipped throughout the Midwest in refrigerated trucks and railcars. (Courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.)

Apples and freshly pressed cider were two standards of the Morton Orchard. Even early on, the orchard was interested in sustainable agriculture. Orchard manager Grove Porter planted trees on terraced land, reducing erosion and saving water. Grove Porter changed the name from Morton Orchard to Porter Orchard after purchasing the property upon Joy Morton’s death. Porter sold the property to the Arbor Day Foundation in 1975. (Courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.)

Orchards in the area grew many varieties of apples, including Transparent, Duchess, and Wealthy in the summer, Jonathan, Red Delicious, and Grimes Golden in the fall, and Winesap, Imperial, and Black Twig in the winter. No matter the variety, every tree had to be pruned and sprayed annually. (Courtesy of Kimmel Orchard.)

Kimmel Orchard on Highway 75 northwest of Nebraska City opened in 1925 and soon expanded its fruit growing to include cherries and grapes. (Courtesy of Kimmel Orchard.)

Workers at Kimmel Orchard clear the trail through the orchard in preparation for the annual blossom festival. Kimmel Orchard has documentation showing that starting in the 1930s, a total of 25,000 people would visit Nebraska City annually and travel the blossom trail. An old map lists must-see places such as the Seydlitz Orchard, Raben Orchard, Kimmel Orchard, Porter Orchard (formerly Morton Orchard), Catron Orchard, Homeyer Orchard, and Utterback Orchard. (Courtesy of Kimmel Orchard.)

Nebraska City’s Kimmel Orchard played a unique part in the nation’s World War II history. During the 1940s, a German prisoner-of-war camp was established at Weeping Water, about 30 miles away. Due to the manpower shortage caused by the war, many local orchards were in need of extra help during harvest time. German POWs such as Otto and Fritz, pictured here, were bused to the orchards in the morning for work and then taken back to the camp at night. They were not paid in money but in coupons, which could be traded at the camp for candy, cigarettes, and personal items. (Courtesy of Kimmel Orchard.)

In the early 1900s, families could choose from a dozen Nebraska City orchards to find a place to pick fresh apples, purchase tasty cider, and enjoy the outdoors. That changed on November 11, 1940. A serious weather event called the Armistice Day freeze spread across the Midwest from Sioux City, Nebraska, to the south. After a hot, dry summer, the ground was parched. Two solid days of rain on November 9 and 10 meant the trees could finally drink their fill. But, on the November 11, temperatures in the region plummeted from 60 degrees to zero in a matter of hours. The water in the trees froze, expanded, and ruptured, causing irreversible damage. Orchard managers reported a 75-percent immediate loss of crops. Many smaller orchards never recovered. After the freeze, only four orchards survived as commercial businesses: Morton Orchard, Kimmel Orchard, Catron Orchard, and Union Orchard. (Courtesy of the Kimmel Foundation.)

By the 1970s, Kimmel Orchard was making 800 gallons of cider per day during production time. (Courtesy of the Kimmel Foundation.)

Local orchard managers maintain that picking all the trees by hand is the best way to harvest the apples. Once picked, the apples are washed, sized, graded, and packaged. In addition to apple trees, Kimmel Orchard also specialized in cherry production. In the 1930s, Kimmel Orchard had 250 acres of cherry trees and hired 200 workers daily to pick cherries. (Courtesy of the Kimmel Foundation.)

In 1943, Kimmel Orchard was short on manpower to harvest its crops and accepted labor help from German POW camps, several of which were located in Nebraska. One such German soldier was William Oberdieck. Oberdieck developed a strong friendship with Richard and Laurine Kimmel, owners of Kimmel Orchard, pictured above. Oberdieck would write later in life that the Kimmels “tried very hard to show us what life is all about in America.” Oberdieck returned to Germany after the war but eventually moved back to America, bringing his family with him. He went to work for the Kimmels and, in 1964, bought the orchard from them. In the photograph at right, Oberdieck is making apple cider. (Above, courtesy of the Kimmel Foundation; at right, Kimmel Orchard.)

During the drought of the 1930s, trees at the Morton Orchard produced smaller apples. Grove Porter, pictured here at the orchard in 1985, began marketing those apples as “schoolboys” and said they were perfect for a student’s lunch. When Porter sold the orchard to the Arbor Day Foundation in 1975, his son Mort took over management. Today, the farm once owned by J. Sterling Morton is known as Arbor Day Farm and Tree Adventure. (Courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.)