“Pinneys have oldest family owned business in area” from the June 10, 1976 Door County Advocate
Pinneys have oldest family owned business in area
Door county’s oldest family operated business has been flourishing in more ways than one for the past 112 years. Evergreen Nursery, the oldest nursery in the state, was founded in 1864 by a Methodist lay preacher named George Pinney whose descendants, all bearing the Pinney name, have operated it ever since.
George Pinney was a man of many interests when he moved to Sturgeon Bay from Lebanon, Ohio, in the spring of 1864. Although only in his late twenties, he had literary talent, preaching ability, and a “green thumb” unsurpassed by any other settler. Pinney had a way with plants and people and this dual versatility was to prove rewarding throughout the ensuing years.
Described as an able, earnest man with an eye on the future, Pinney planted his first seedbed on a plot of ground now occupied by the Sturgeon Bay post office and formerly known as “Courthouse Square.” After a few months in this location he moved a few miles north and started the present Evergreen nursery on land purchased from the government.
GEORGE PINNEY
Evergreen founder
Preacher, Planter & Publisher
By now (1865) Pinney was joined by his brother James Pinney, a surveyor, who lent his not inconsiderable talents to the growing nursery operation. In those early days there was no embargo on shipments of nursery stock and one memorable shipment, a carload of Jack-pine seed, went to Europe. The Pinneys, knowing that each pound contained something like 400,000 seeds, couldn’t help feeling gratified thinking of the number of trees this shipment would plant.
George Pinney won a gold medal at the Columbia World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893 for his superior nursery stock and his descendants have been dedicated to maintaining the same high standards. It should be mentioned that during these early years George Pinney was influential in erecting Sturgeon Bay’s first Methodist church and had co-founded a weekly newspaper called the Expositor with A. W. Lawrence. Pinney sold his interest in 1877 and the paper folded nine years later.
Pinney’s newspaper instincts led to the publication of a trade paper “The Ornamental Tree Grower” which was the first publication of its kind in the United States. It enjoyed several years of growth before giving way to other interests.
Occupied as Pinney was with his church and newspapers, he and James saw to it that Evergreen Nursery didn’t lack attention or stock. Shipments of firs, spruces, pines and other conifers came by wagon, train and boat and the ambitious brothers developed profitable trade relations with such European nations as Germany, Austria and England.
Lightship
After George Pinney’s death in 1894 his son John J. Pinney assumed control of the business. The original tract of land had expanded and so did Pinney’s list of employees. John Pinney had the good fortune to marry his father’s able secretary Mary Kingston who to this day is described as a remarkable woman by those who knew her. When John died, at the age of 48, his widow ran the company — grooming two of her six children, Tom and Clarence, for future leadership.
Martha Pinney assumed control of Evergreen Nursery in 1912 but insisted on having her children do their share of work. She also insisted on college educations for each of her offspring and by the year 1931 this perseverance paid off. Tom and Clarence took charge that year after earning degrees at Cornell. Tom Pinney jr. joined the organization in 1960, hearing a bachelor of arts degree in horticulture from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in ornamental horticulture from Ohio State.
Martha Pinney lived to see most of her dreams come true before she died at the age of 94 in 1959. By then there was no part of the business her children and grandchildren were not acquainted with. Four generations of Pinneys had steered at the helm of Evergreen nursery for more than a century and their shared experienced profited one another.
The Pinney home built by George Pinney in 1887 still stands on its original site at Evergreen Nursery. Although it has undergone extensive remodeling throughout the years the home's basic design remains unchanged. It is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Pinney.
The present Evergreen Nursery consists of more than 600 acres (of which more than 250 acres are in trees) and everything that can be mechanized is mechanized. A huge all modern cold storage plant was built in 1970, greenhouses (too numerous to count) hold tender young plants and tree planting machines plant 13,000 trees each hour. This modernization is a far cry from the days when everything was done by hand and some of Sturgeon Bay’s leading citizens could be seen down on their hands and knees grubbing in the soil to earn extra spending money.
Hand labor and horsepower were the forerunners of modern machinery now in use at Evergreen Nursery. Some work is still done by hand but Evergreen is known as being one of the most modern and highly mechanized nurseries in the country.
At one time the village of Evergreen (which sprung up around the nursery) had its own post office, store, blacksmith shop, boarding house and warehouse. The boarding house alone accommodated between 50 and 60 people and their presence together with the volume of business being done by Evergreen Nursery was undoubtedly instrumental in the establishment of the once well known Evergreen post office.
The first postmistress, appointed by President Cleveland, was the late Flora Pinney Greenwood. When a new postmaster was appointed many years later he moved out, lock, stock and barrel, to Sturgeon Bay, thus forcing the closing of the historic Evergreen post office.
The nursery, one of the largest in the country, is still prospering and expanding. Evergreen Nursery sells stock all over the world and finds trade periodicals and word of mouth the best form of advertising. This would undoubtedly please the company’s founder George Pinney, a man who combined a love of speech with that of the printed page.
The Pinney home built by George Pinney in 1887 still stands on its original site at Evergreen Nursery. Although it has undergone extensive remodeling throughout the years the home’s basic design remains unchanged. It is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Pinney.
Hand labor and horsepower were the forerunners of modern machinery now in use at Evergreen Nursery. Some work is still done by hand but Evergreen is known as being one of the most modern and highly mechanized nurseries in the country.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles relating to George Pinney, 1834-1894
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/george-pinney-1834-1894
Articles relating to Martha Pinney
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/martha-pinney