Campbell Farmer's Union Packing Company
| Business |
Dried Fruit Packer,Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
Campbell |
Campbell dried fruit cooperative, organized in 1909 and building their original plant along Central Ave. in 1912.
Farmer's Union is best known because it was one of the founding members of the California_Prune_and_Apricot_Growers association, also known as Sunsweet. When the organization was formed in 1917, the Farmer's Union packing house became plant #1. At the time of the sale, the Farmer's Union also had packing houses in Morgan Hill and Gilroy[1]
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell | 1911 | Central Avenue |
Became Sunsweet. |
Photos
Details
Organized 1909, confirmed by California Fruit News F. M. Righters and Percy Baldwin Payne, Sr. were president and manager. Other organizers: H.E. Craig, A.N. Lantz, I.V. Vollmer, Arthur Ernst (all of Campbell), F.W. Watson and W.O. Post of Los Gatos, T.P. Jones of Sunnyvale, F.M. Coleman of Cupertino, F.R. Shaffer of San Jose. Sales agent was Walter M. Field in San Francisco.
Built first packing house in 1912 according to California Fruit News Harvest of Change declares "the packing house in Campbell was three stories high and measured fifty-four by seventy-five feet." Opened October 1, 1912 according to October 2, 1912 San Francisco Call Tried to do raisin packing, but gave up in 1913 (Sunsweet Story, p. 42)
Became associated with California Prune and Apricot Growers in 1917, packer for 1917 season.
Sunsweet Story portrays them as one of the successful coops.
- ↑ Prune Association to Buy Packing Houses: March 23, 1918 California Fruit News. "These three plants will take all the packing houses operated by the California Farmer's Union, Inc. and the latter is now arranging to disincorporate." It's not clear whether the reference to the California Farmer's Union in the article is a mistake, or if the three packing houses were actually related.