First Peach Orchard in Douglas

Location: 11 Fremont Street, Douglas
Date: Ca. 1860

Jonas S. Crouse was a lumber mill worker, carpenter, and builder – and the first commercial fruit farmer in the village. He converted the entirety of his full square block of village property into an orchard, beginning with 100 peach and apple trees in 1862. Local fruit growers later named their fruit transport steamship in his honor. Mr. Crouse was also the builder of the new Douglas schoolhouse in 1866. One of the old Crouse barns still exists on his former property at Randolph and Main Streets, and is the centerpiece for a garden.