Thanksgiving Extra Special In A Place Called Cranberry

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA - On Thanksgiving, it seems appropriate to indulge in little known facts about cranberries, a fruit whose sauce is a staple of the annual holiday feast. It’s even more fitting to do so in a place named after them.

Here are a few things you might not know about cranberries:

• According to the 1989 book, “Cranberry Township: A History of Our Community,” published by the Cranberry Historical Society, the township was established in 1804. It was named for the wild cranberries that at the time grew along the banks of Brush Creek.

The berries attracted deer, and the deer attracted native American hunters, although there is no evidence of permanent Indian settlements within the township borders. Droughts and farming combined to eliminate the township’s namesake fruit by the 1880s.

• There are four other Cranberry Townships in the United States. One is north of the Butler County Cranberry in Venango County. The others are located in Crawford County, Ohio; Avery County, North Carolina and Allegheny County, North Carolina.

• With about 30,000 residents, Butler County’s Cranberry is the most populated Cranberry Township in the nation.

• There are seven Cranberry rivers in North America - in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, West Virginia, Wisconsin, British Columbia and Ontario.

• Cranberries are said to have been eaten at first Thanksgiving feast in 1621. But cranberry sauce wasn’t sold to North American consumers until 1912. Canned cranberry sauce first appeared in 1941, allowing the product to be sold year-round.

Photo: Associated Press.