/')0“ANNIVERSARY 
A Brief History 
of the 
Landreth Seed Business 
1784 
I N the publication of this catalog for 1934, it is 
with a great deal of pride that we of the present 
firm of the D. Landreth Seed Company, com¬ 
memorate the 150th year of our business, started by 
•our great grandfather, David Landreth, in Phila¬ 
delphia in 1784. It is also with pride and satisfaction 
that we point to the fact that there are only about 
ten business houses, as far as we can learn, in any 
business whatever in the United States, who have 
continued longer than this Company in direct 
descent from father to son. 
The Landreth Nursery and Seed Business was 
established in Philadelphia in the spring of 1784. Its 
founder, David Landreth (1752-1836), was the son 
of a Northumberland farmer who had in England 
applied himself to the business of tree growing. He 
emigrated to Canada in 1781, and shortly after, re¬ 
moved to Philadelphia. The first place of business 
was in Philadelphia, on High Street, the position 
now being covered by the buildings, 1210 and 1212 
Market Street, then a location well out in the 
country. Adjoining land was rented, the largest 
section being a tract which now includes Twelfth 
and Filbert Streets. 
The original firm was David Landreth. The 
Landreth Nursery and Seed Gardens in the “Neck,” 
as it was called, were operated in 1789 on rented 
land. A portion of the tract was a little later pur¬ 
chased, and an adjoining tract pur¬ 
chased in 1799. David Landreth sold 
trees, shrubs and garden seeds to 
General W ashington at Mount Vernon, 
to Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, and 
to Joseph Bonaparte, ex-king of Spain, 
in 1818 for his palatial house and 
grounds at Bordentown, N. J. 
In 1787 David Landreth was joined 
by his brother, Cuthbert, and in 1790 
the firm-title became David & Cuth¬ 
bert Landreth. The old mansion 
house on the nursery grounds, which, 
embowered in vines and surrounded by rare 
shrubs and trees, had become one of the show places 
of Philadelphia, was, in 1847, sold to the school 
board of Philadelphia. It was designated as the 
David Landreth School, subsequently destroyed by 
fire and a new building erected under the same 
name, which now in 1934 houses over 2,000 students. 
From the Landreth nurseries w r ere drawn many of 
the specimens of fine trees which still embellish the 
1934 
old country-seats around Philadelphia. Fine ex¬ 
amples of these trees are to be seen in the oldest 
ashes, elms, birches, oaks, buttonwood and linden 
trees of Washington and Independence Squares, 
these being planted about the beginning of the 
19th century. 
In 1808 David & Cuthbert Landreth conducted 
business at three locations: at the seed store on 
Market Street near Twelfth Street; at the southeast 
corner of the old courthouse; and at the nursery on 
Federal Street. In 1810 a seed store was also es¬ 
tablished on Second Street below Market. 
In 1818 another branch was established in Charles¬ 
ton, S. C., and subsequently the property, Nos. 351 
and 353 King Street, were purchased and the 
business continued until the real estate and mer¬ 
chandise were confiscated, April 22, 1862, by order 
of the District Court of the Confederate States. 
In 1820 the Landreth seed store removed from 
Second Street to Chestnut Street below Third. 
Twelve years later David Landreth, 1st, began 
the issue of the Floral Magazine, the first horti¬ 
cultural journal ever published in America, a very 
attractive and technical publication, of which we 
still have three numbers which have been the means 
of settling several important horticultural discussions. 
In 1847 the Farm was removed from Philadelphia 
to Bloomsdale Farms, Bristol, Bucks County, Pa. 
In 1854 a branch was established in 
St. Louis, Mo., but closed upon the 
outbreak of the Civil W 7 ar. 
In 1875 the firm’s name which had 
been D. Landreth & Son since 1860, 
was changed to D. Landreth & Sons, 
the partners being David Landreth, 
Jr., and his sons, Oliver, Burnet, and 
Leopold Landreth. 
In 1876 Burnet Landreth was chosen 
as the chief of the Bureau of Agricul¬ 
ture at the United States Centennial 
Commission of the International Ex¬ 
hibition held in Philadelphia. In 1878 he was sig¬ 
nally honored by a summons by President Hayes to 
Washington and offered the position of Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture of the United States, corre¬ 
sponding to the Secretary of Agriculture, although 
then not a cabinet office, which he respectfully 
declined with thanks. On February 22, 1880, David 
Landreth, Jr., died, and the business was conducted 
by his sons, Oliver, Burnet, and Leopold. 
TRADE MARK 
pireeCeni^ $ 
•Linked 
•In One Continuous- 
Seed Business 
—FOUNDED IN 1784- 
COLONIAL GIRL, COPYRIGHTED 
