The next year delivered a bumper crop of interesting apple varieties, so the Clendenen's featured the apples as the centerpiece of the next store festival. The festival has since become the annual Apple Harvest Days in Fortuna.

Apples have long been a tradition in Humboldt County. E.C. Clendenen purchased a five-acre orchard on the edge of Fortuna in 1905 (the orchard was originally planted in 1869 and a few of the original trees still stand around the cider works building). He initially shipped the apples via horse and wagon to Eureka and then by steamship to the San Francisco wholesale market. This was the beginning of the Clendenen Cider Works.

In 1909, Clendenen began making apple cider and then in 1916 he purchased a new rack and cloth cider press. He had the room-sized machine shipped to Fortuna from Mt. Gilead, Ohio. The cider press is still in use today in the same location at the cider works. A dozen of the original apple trees are still blended into the delicious Clendenen's Apple Cider.

There are about 25 varieties of apples grown in the Clendenen orchard including Mutsi, Idared, Fuji, Jonagold, Bellflower, Spitzenberg, Golden Delicious and Gravenstein. At the Clendenen's roadside market, the estate-grown apples are featured along with bakery goods and local produce.

The Apple Harvest Festival is held in October (schedule is here) and is a city-wide combination farm event, historical celebration and family fun day. At the festival, apple tasting is augmented by other food tasting, free cider and balloons. Downtown Fortuna, Rohner Park, Redwood Village Shopping Center and other locations around Fortuna contribute many events to this festival to keep your family busy all day. Pictures are here.

The Apple Harvest Festival includes an old fashioned downtown fair with Main Street open only to walking traffic to accommodate the Farmers' Market, apple pie sales, a barbecue, live music and more. Free hayride transportation allows you and your family to be carried from one venue to the next while enjoying the wonderful October weather in Fortuna.