Our Story
McCahon Floral's legacy traces back to 1912, when Allin McCahon arrived at Ellis Island from Londonderry, Ireland. As the youngest of eight children, his future in the new world of the Golden Era was uncertain. He first established his roots as a gardener on the palatial 50-acre Vanderbilt estate in Newport, Rhode Island.
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After honing his craft and developing his horticultural skills along the Newport coast for America's aristocracy, World War I erupted. Following his enlistment, Allin narrowly survived a scarlet fever epidemic and was later discharged. Seizing the opportunity, he joined family members in the Bay Area of San Francisco, quickly becoming a key figure in West Coast floriculture. He pioneered the establishment of potted blooming plants for the San Francisco markets, focusing particularly on developing year-round Chrysanthemum forcing in collaboration with Ohio State University.
With the creation of artificial light deprivation techniques using black curtains and lighting, Allin's enterprise flourished. In 1947, he acquired 3 acres in South San Francisco to start his own business. After cultivating a successful local trade and integrating his two sons, Wilson and Robert, post-World War II, the increasing land values in San Francisco prompted a relocation. In 1958, against other local growers' advice, they established a nursery operation in the coastal climate of Half Moon Bay, which was initially thought too harsh for floral production. However, their innovative greenhouses and engineered systems transformed Half Moon Bay into a thriving agricultural hub, evidenced by hundreds of acres of greenhouses by the 1960s.
McCahon Floral specialized in producing a variety of flowering plants, including Chrysanthemums, Hydrangeas, Christmas Poinsettias, Easter Lilies, and African Violets, becoming a renowned fixture of quality in the Bay Area. After Allin's retirement in 1970, the business was passed to his sons, with Wilson leading the expansion to over 19 acres of greenhouses across in Half Moon Bay. A partnership with a local supermarket chain in the late 1970s to feature floral displays marked a significant transformation for the industry, making beautiful blooms widely available in local markets across California and beyond.
Wilson continued refining the legacy, working with breeders to advance hybridization in floral crops. In the early '80s, Andy, representing the third generation, joined the business full-time after studying at USC. Alongside his wife Laurie, Andy expanded the business to supply Southern California from Carpinteria and Goleta, diversifying into Begonias, Gerberas, Cyclamen, and establishing a year-round blooming program.
In 1999, the operation moved to Watsonville, after acquiring the Royal Oaks facility in the heart of the Pajaro Valley. This site, spanning 27 acres of growing space, is neighboured by rolling hills and thousands of acres of strawberries, providing a picturesque backdrop and the inspiration of the Beatles' iconic 1967 hit, "Strawberry Fields Forever." Today, McCahon Floral operates from its legacy sites in Half Moon Bay and Watsonville, specializing in the same crops that founded the business. Supplying over 2500 locations in California, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon, the company now employs a dedicated team of 60 nursery men and women, including the fourth generation of Brittany McCahon and Jake Brookes.
