Ontario in Wayne County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Apple Dry House

Photographed by Anton Schwarzmueller, May 1, 2021

1. Apple Dry House Marker

Inscription. The history of apple growing date back to 1804 when white settlers first settled in Pultneyville and began propagating the apple tree found there. By 1850, commercial culture (production for sale or trade to others) was beginning. Apples were stored in cellars or hand peeled and sliced, then dried in the sun or on racks over the kitchen stove. Alanson Warner was not the only inventor of his family. His son, John, was a master carpenter who built his own house on Furnace Road, right around the corner from his father's farm. John was also a farmer who had many fruit trees. He needed a way to store fruit and keep it from rotting so he invented a dry house. The Warner Dry House was so successful that John was asked to build Warner Dry Houses all over upstate NY. He was said to be "slow and meticulous... his hands always busy working on something." Besides building dry houses, he also built winding staircases.

Drying of apples occurred after the apples were shaken from the trees. They were then taken to a dry house. Many of these buildings are still evident about in Ontario although not used for their original purpose.

The dried

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apple slices were bagged or packed in wooden boxes for shipment which might be by rail or on the Erie Canal or Lake Ontario.

Erected by Heritage Square Museum.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Agriculture. A significant historical year for this entry is 1804.

Location. 43° 15.424′ N, 77° 18.43′ W. Marker is in Ontario, New York, in Wayne County. It can be reached from Ontario Center Road ¼ mile south of Brick Church Road. Marker is on the grounds of the Heritage Square Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7147 Ontario Center Road, Ontario NY 14519, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York,

specifically in Western New York,

in the Finger Lakes,

and in the Rochester Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

New Netherland,

and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Photographed by Anton Schwarzmueller, May 1, 2021

2. Apple Dry House & Marker

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: "Hojack" Train Station (a few steps from this marker); Warner House (within shouting distance of this marker); Town of Ontario Timeline (within shouting distance of this marker); Crombe Exhibit Barn (within shouting distance of this marker); Baptist Meeting House (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Log Cabin (about 500 feet away); Heritage Corners (about 500 feet away); Davis Cemetery (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ontario.

Also see . . . Heritage Square Museum. (Submitted on May 6, 2021, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.)

Photographed by Anton Schwarzmueller, May 1, 2021

3. Apple Dry House & Marker

Warner House in background.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 6, 2021. It was originally submitted on May 6, 2021, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York. This page has been viewed 592 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 6, 2021, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.