The introduction of olive orchards into the United States dates to the colonial and mission periods, when European settlers and missionaries brought the ancient Mediterranean crop to American soil for the first time.
Early Introductions in the Southeast
Olive trees were first introduced to the southeastern coastline of North America in the 17th and 18th centuries. British colonists arriving in Georgia around 1736 recorded finding olives growing near Saint Simons Island, where Spanish missionaries had earlier planted them during the 16th-century mission period. Thomas Jefferson, long fascinated with Mediterranean agriculture, later imported olive trees from France to plantations in Georgia and South Carolina, though none of these efforts became major commercial successes due to the humid climate and periodic frost damage.
Arrival in Spanish California
The most enduring introduction of the olive tree occurred under Spanish colonial rule in California. In 1769, Franciscan missionaries led by Father Junípero Serra planted the first olive trees at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, marking the beginning of California’s olive culture. The hardy trees thrived in the Mediterranean-like climate, soon spreading northward to other missions such as San Gabriel, San Fernando, and Santa Barbara. These "Mission olives" became the foundation for the first sustainable olive industry in North America.
From Mission Groves to Commercial Orchards
After Mexico secularized the missions in the 1830s, olive cultivation waned temporarily until revived in the late 19th century by California farmers and entrepreneurs. Early pioneers like E. F. Sanborn and Thomas Davies began producing olive oil and pickled olives from the remnants of mission groves in San Diego by the 1860s. The industry’s first major breakthrough came in 1898, when Freda Ehmann, a widow from Oroville, California, perfected a method for canning ripe olives, founding the Ehmann Olive Company and spurring large-scale orchard planting across the state.
Expansion and Legacy
By the early 20th century, California had become the epicenter of olive cultivation in the United States, producing both table olives and olive oil. Regions such as Oroville, Fallbrook, and the Central Valley were dotted with thriving orchards and processing mills. The “Mission” variety, descended from the original 18th-century trees, remains uniquely American—genetically distinct from known Spanish cultivars.
Today, olives are cultivated throughout much of California and parts of the southern U.S., but nearly 90% of national production still comes from California’s long-established industry—a lasting legacy of Franciscan horticulture and early American enterprise.