History of Cider
The general consenus among Historians is that apple trees existed along the Nile River Delta as early as 1300 BC, but there is no evidence of whether cider was ever produced from the fruit.
In 55 BC the Romans arrived in England and reportedly found the local Kentish villagers drinking a delicious cider-like drink made from apples. It has been recorded that the Romans and in particular their leader, Julius Caesar, enjoyed the drink with much enthusiasm! How long the locals had been making this apple drink prior to the Romans, no one knows.
By the beginning of the ninth century, cider drinking was well established in Europe.
American History Tells a Different Story
The Pilgrims discovered crabapples were in America before they arrived, but the fruit was not very edible. The Massachusetts Bay Colony requested seeds and cuttings from England, which were brought over on later voyages of the Mayflower. Other Europeans brought apple stock to Virginia and the Southwest, and a Massachusetts man, John Chapman, became famous for planting trees throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois (his name became "Johnny Appleseed").
Seeds from an apple given to a London sea captain in 1820 are sometimes said to be the origin of the State of Washington apple crop. (now the largest in the U.S.).
Today our modern orchards combine the rich heritage of apple growing with research and field trails to grow an annual US crop exceeding 220,000,000 bushels.