McMullin Orchards

Our History

Robert W. McMullin came from southern Utah in about 1918 to teach school in Nephi, Utah. He continued to pursue his interest in law and in 1921 he passed the Utah State Bar and became a licensed attorney. He moved to Payson in 1921 and was appointed Payson City attorney in 1922.
During the time he was involved in the law profession, his true interests were still with his roots in agriculture. He purchased some land in the valley west of Payson in an area called Genola. In 1925 he began to clear the land of sagebrush to plant crops. The area was best suited for fruit production. He planted the first commercial orchard in 1927. The first orchard consisted mainly of sweet cherries and peaches. He later added tart cherries, pears, and apples.

As time went on, he added more and more acreage to the operation. During the Great Depression, he purchased land west of Payson in the West Mountain area where the current packing plant and main offices are located. The story goes that some of the land was traded for a herd of sheep. Times were tough during the Depression and R. W., as he was called, continued to add land to the operation.During World War II, Dave, R. W.'s son ran the farms and raised fruit as well as grain for the war effort. They did quite well during these times. Dave would go to school during the winters at Utah State University. He was able to enter law school in 1948 at the University of Utah where he graduated in 1951.Dave continued to practice law as well as farm. He leased the wheat ground and pursued his interests in the fruit. During this time he was continually adding more land to the farm. He was not always farming all of the land himself but had the future in mind.He enjoyed traveling finding and planting new varieties.He planted 30 acres in Genola in 1969 with the Yakima Hale Peaches. This was the first commercial orchard of this variety in this area.The fruit production and processing has now passed to the third generation of the McMullin family.

The current operation is headed by Robert McMullin, R. W.'s grandson. He is assisted in the operation of the processing plant and the orchards by his sister, Ann McMullin Dockstader, and his two brothers, David and William. The fourth generation of the family is now also becoming involved in the operation of McMullin Orchards.