Applecrest’s History

The property the farm currently stands on was settled in 1665 by Englishman James Prescott. In 1913, Walter Baldwin Farmer (yes, that’s his real name) bought the farm with his wife and two daughters with an eye to turning it into a lucrative business. He dubbed his venture Applecrest Farm Orchards and bought up surrounding acreage, dredged brooks, dynamited granite, and planted thousands of apple trees. Farmer spent his first ten years raising chickens to support himself while he waited for the trees to mature and bear fruit. Some of the original trees and stone buildings he erected still stand on the property today.

William and Jean Wagner purchased the farm in 1954. Native New Yorkers and knowing little of the apple business, they spent years studying pomology. Jean Wagner was a tireless businesswoman, initiating the first fall festival at the farm and continuing to work well in to her 80s. Sons, Ben and Peter, came back to the farm in the 1960s to run the day-to-day operations. In 2006, Peter purchased the farm outright and became the proprietary owner of Applecrest. Peter, his wife Linda, and son Todd currently operate the farm. With Todd and his own children now living at the original Farmer homestead, built in 18??, a fourth generation continues the tradition of wholesome family farming.