Levering Orchard

Levering Orchard was founded in 1908 by Ralph and Clara Levering.

Ralph Levering, Frank’s grandfather, was originally a strawberry and sweet potato farmer in eastern Tennessee.

Legend has it that he grew tired of having to stoop for a living.

He wanted to reach for the sky as he picked his fruit.

So in 1907, the Columbia University-educated Ralph Levering wrote the U.S.

Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C., inquiring about the best place to set out an apple orchard in the Southeast.