For years, this marker designated the site where Jonathan Jessop developed the York Imperial Apple. With construction of Apple Hill Medical Center on that site, the state Horticultural Association-sponsored marker has been moved inside the medical complex. It sits in obscurity today in the area, quite naturally, of the center's coffee shop. Background posts: Who were York County's most influential citizens?, Research needed to unearth Underground Railroad in York County and 20 questions and answers to prove your York County smarts.
The 1968 book "Greater York In Action" tells the oft-repeated story about how the York Imperial Apple came into being.
In the 1820s, Quaker orchardist/clockmaker Jonathan Jessop received a seedling from a Hallam-area tree that had produced apples that kept all winter on the ground under a blanket of snow.
Jessop grafted a stem from this seedling onto another tree on his Springwood Farm in York Township.
He carried the tree to the Friends' Yearly Meeting in Baltimore and from there members brought the tree to Virginia.
The apple original was known as Jonathan's Fine Winter and later was changed to "Imperial of Keepers" and "York Imperial."
So Jessop became largely known for his role in development of Imperial apples.
That's where this story, which no doubt needs verification and corroboration, has stood for years... .
