“Dorris Ranch, Springfield’s unique living history farm, has succeeded in bringing Oregon history to life. Established in 1892, this 250-acre farm is Oregon’s oldest working filbert (hazelnut) farm.
Dorris Ranch is recognized as the first commercial filbert orchard in the United States and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oregon’s history with filberts started in 1892 when George Dorris and his wife Lulu bought 250 acres of fertile land along the Willamette River and dedicated their lives to farming. After experimenting with a variety of crops, George established the first commercial filbert nut orchard in the United States. Over the next 50 years the Dorris family planted 9,200 trees at the Ranch and harvested more than 50 tons of nuts each year.
Now, more than 100 years later, Dorris Ranch continues to make history as a fully-productive commercial filbert orchard. More than half of all the commercial filbert trees now growing in the U.S. originated from Dorris Ranch nursery stock.”
oh gosh…this is stunning.