CLAY COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The Golden Delicious apple is now found in grocery stores and farmer markets all across the nation, but the Golden Delicious first got its start from a chance seedling on a farm in Clay County.
In 1912, a Golden Delicious apple tree that arose from a chance seedling, which is a plant that is a product of unintentional breeding, was discovered. It is believed that the tree was possibly a hybrid of ‘Grimes Golden’ and ‘Golden Reinette’.
The original tree was discovered on Mullins’ family farm in Clay County and was first known as Mullin’s Yellow Seedling and Annit apple.
Anderson Mullins, head of the farm, sold the tree and propagation rights to Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards based in Louisiana, Missouri for $5,000, nearly $150,000 in today’s money. The company became the original marketer of the Golden Delicious apple.
Clay County celebrates the discovery of the apple in an annual Golden Delicious Festival that got its start in 1972.
The Golden Delicious apple was designated the official state fruit of West Virginia in February of 1995.
