Community Corner
The 'Big Lemon' Brightens Lemon Grove
Originally built to be a parade float, the 3,000-pound fiberglass lemon is a local icon—and arguably the world's largest fruit near public transportation.
Anyone walking past the corner of Broadway and Main in Lemon Grove's bright sunshine probably can't help puckering up. For there stands the beautiful, bright, 10-foot "Big Lemon," the folk art icon of the city of Lemon Grove.
A group of volunteer ranchers constructed the lemon in 1928 as a parade float entry for the July 4, 1928, Fiesta de San Diego parade, said Helen Ofield, president of the Lemon Grove Historical Society.
"The float not only won third prize, it entered the hearts and minds of Lemon Grovians as a beloved symbol of the town's agrarian origins," she said.
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Local citizens refused to part with their Big Lemon and, after much discussion, it was mounted on a base next to the old railroad tracks in the middle of town, where it could be seen by residents and visitors alike.
"The 3,000-pound lemon lives on today in perpetual sunshine, albeit many coats of fiberglass later," Ofield said.
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The Historical Society's book, "Images of America: Lemon Grove," details more novel stories about Lemon Grove, including pictures of the Big Lemon, Ofield said. It is available at $20 per copy in the Parsonage Museum, 3185 Olive St. The book provides readers with plenty of information about Lemon Grove.
The Big Lemon—and it is big— is visible next to the trolley tracks, a concrete fruit 10-feet wide and 6 feet in diameter.
The statue's concrete base reads: "BEST CLIMATE ON EARTH." A dozen lemon trees grow behind the big lemon statue, to remind all that before Lemon Grove was a town, it was a real lemon grove.
The town of Corona, north of Lemon Grove and close to Los Angeles, once laid claim to the title "Lemon Capital of the World." A museum there presents the lemon's role in the local economy. But nearby Chula Vista also claims to be "Lemon Capital of the World" and still holds an annual lemon festival every August.
Lemon Grove makes no such assertion about being a capital, or even owning the world's largest lemon, Ofield said.
"It's unknown if the Big Lemon is really the largest, but we're almost certain it's the largest fruit adjacent to public transportation," the historian quipped.
The giant and easily observable lemon is located next to the trolley tracks at 3361 Main St., near the corner of Broadway and Main Street.
