The California citrus empire came about because of a woman named Eliza Tibbets. She lived in Washington DC and received three orange tree cuttings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Washington navel oranges from Brazil. She later moved to Riverside, California, and planted those three trees. These oranges were tasty and heavy yielding, so Eliza Tibbets passed around seedlings. Her once three scrawny orange trees became the parent trees that gave birth to California's billion dollar citrus industry.
Growing Home - Eliza Tibbets and California Citrus
