It was discovered early in the 18th century near Esopus, Hudson, New York and is reputed to have been a favorite apple of Thomas Jefferson, who planted several of the trees at Monticello.

[3] In 1922, Ulysses Hedrick described Esopus Spitzenburg (sometimes simply called "Spitzenberg") as "one of the leading American apples ... [A]bout the best to eat out of hand, and very good for all culinary purposes as well.

Like many late-season apples, it improves with a few weeks of cool storage, which brings it to its full, rich flavor.

Using whole-genome SNP data to reconstruct a large multi-generation pedigree in apple germplasm.

Founding clones, inbreeding, coancestry, and status number of modern apple cultivars.