Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Near Columbus, Ohio
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, a suburb east of Columbus, calls itself the Birthplace of the Tomato, and it has a legitimate claim. The city was established in eighteen thirty-one, but its claim to fame came from a farmer and seed developer named Alexander W. Livingston, who spent nearly twenty years crossbreeding tomato plants on his land here.
In eighteen seventy he introduced the Paragon tomato, the first variety specifically bred to be smooth, uniform, and reliable enough for commercial production. Before the Paragon, tomatoes were inconsistent and unpredictable. Livingston's work made them a viable commercial crop.
He went on to develop more than a dozen tomato varieties and founded a seed company that stayed in business in Columbus for over a century. Ohio recognized Reynoldsburg's contribution with a formal state proclamation in nineteen eighty-seven, and the city still holds an annual Tomato Festival each August.
