REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Alexander Livingston developed tomatoes in the 1800s, which have played an important role in the history of Reynoldsburg.
“For somebody who did not finish school he was a genius,” said Mary Turner Stoots, about Reynoldsburg native and horticulture legend Alexander Livingston.
Stoots is a lifelong resident of Reynoldsburg and president of the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society.
She said tomatoes developed by Reynoldsburg native Alexander Livingston in the 1800s have played an important role in the city’s history.
“Took him 20 years to develop the first one that was juicy and had a skin hard enough that you could pack them to travel. So the genetics were in the plant, not in the fruit,” Turner Stoots said. “And he really was ahead of himself in genetics.”
The tomato is called the paragon, the first commercial tomato, bigger and sweeter than others.
Overall, Livingston cultivated 31 varieties and founded a seed company in 1850, which remains open to this day in Columbus.
His home still stands on the corner of Palmer and Graham Roads in Reynoldsburg, along with the wagon used by his employee Benjamin Patterson to transport escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railroad.
“He drove them to Granville,” said Turner Stoots. “From Granville, they either went to Utica, or they went all the way to Mount Vernon.”
The city of Reynoldsburg continues to honor Livingston with an annual Tomato Festival.
The three-day event includes music, tomato-growing contests, food, including fried green tomatoes and much more.
One Pataskala farmer who I spoke to says there is still admiration for the father of the modern tomato.
“We live off the land. We grow a lot of the food that we eat, we grow. It’s amazing just to learn the history of where everything came from,” said Caren Conkey of Birney’s Miracle Farm.
Turner Stoots said it’s important that Livingston’s legacy is kept alive for generations to come.
“He put Reynoldsburg on the map,” she said. “He did a lot for horticulture in general. People are still learning from things that he’s done.”
