York
Place of Origin: York, PA
Year: Circa 1820
Parentage: Unknown: propogated from trees belonging to either a Mr. William Johnson (York) or Mr. John Kline (Hellam)
Uses: Baking, Good keeper, Cider
History at Three Springs: This variety has been a staple in our orchards for as long as we can remember.
The cultivar most frequently associated with the Pennsylvania apple industry remains a staple of apple processing to this day. Reputedly, school boys were known to sneak onto the farm to gather fallen apples that maintained texture and flavor under the tree well into the spring. This prompted Mr. Kline (or Johnson) to bring this variety to Quaker nurseryman Jonathan Jessop who propagated "Jonathan's Fine Winter", later "York Imperial" in the 1850's, at his Springwood Farm nursery. Extremely dense and often lopsided in appearance, these apples have been stored for months in Wenk family root cellars for stewed apples for generations.
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