Just beyond the split-rail fence of Westminster’s historic Semper-Allison Farm, located at 92nd and Pierce Street, an apple tree stands with presence. It’s scraggly, scarred, and hollowed in places. The tree has weathered the “Killer Blizzard” of 1885–86, multiple droughts, and more than 140 years of change. This apple tree was once the largest of its kind in Colorado, and for the first time in over a decade, is being measured again to see if it still holds its place among the state’s champion trees.
The story of this particular tree begins in the early 1880s, when Charles and Julia Semper moved onto 160 acres near Pierce Street and present-day Westminster Boulevard. Having uprooted from New Orleans to set out west, Charles began transforming the dry prairie sod into a working homestead: digging a well, plowing several acres, planting barley, alfalfa, clover, vegetables, and berries. He laid out orchards of apples, cherries, and Black Walnut trees. He raised cattle, hogs, and even sheep.
The Westminster Historical Society estimates this Sops of Wine apple tree, a variety originally from England, was different. It wasn’t a crop for sale; it was planted for pleasure, shade, fruit, and continuity. It likely went into the ground between 1883 and 1893. In 1903, Julia won first place for her Sops of Wine apples in a Denver horticultural contest. The variety is known for its firm flesh and red-flushed skin, better for baking and cider than eating fresh.
After the Sempers sold the property in 1911 and moved to Denver, the farm passed through generations of the Allison family. By mid-century, the area around the tree had grown and changed. Roads were built and realigned. A water treatment plant rose nearby. Yet the apple tree remained rooted in place, protected by community interest and city efforts to preserve the historic farm. In 2006, Allison Community Garden was established around it, not only to steward the land but to give neighbors a reason to know and visit the old tree.
In 2010, 150 cuttings from the tree were grafted onto rootstock and distributed throughout the city for Westminster’s 100th anniversary. Today, more than 100 descendants of the Semper apple tree could be growing across the community.
The Colorado Tree Coalition last measured the Semper apple tree in 2015, placing it second in the state with 169.41 points (based on measurements of circumference, height, and crown spread). This year, foresters returned to Semper Farm to measure the apple tree again, recording a circumference of 113.1 inches, height of 32 feet, and a crown spread of 29 feet. Its new point value: 152.29. For now, that places it third among Colorado’s apple champions.
City Forester Bryan McCoy says decline is natural for trees of this age. “We have intentionally not touched it,” he said. “It’s historical. We could take dead branches out, but there’s always the potential you break off live branches and open it up to fire blight or other disease. We’re just leaving it as is, letting it naturally decline. It’s great for wildlife and the ecosystem.”
Still, the tree endures, protected by the surrounding foliage, nurtured by shaded soil, and sustained by the community’s passion for local history. The fresh set of numbers confirm what Westminster already knows: the Semper apple tree remains, in every sense, a champion.
1882 – Charles & Julia Semper settle in Westminster
1883-1893 – Sops of Wine apple tree planted on Semper property
1884-1885 – Farmers Highline Canal dug; improves water access
1885-1886 – Apple tree survives the “Killer Blizzard”
1903 – Julia Semper wins Denver horticultural contest with Sops of Wine apples
1911 – Westminster incorporates
2005 – Semper-Allison farm becomes historic site, apple tree nominated for champion status
2026 – Apple tree remeasured for Champion Tree Program, wins 3rd place