West Side Fruit Growers Association
| Business |
Fruit Dryer Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
West Side |
| Active |
1891- |
| Successors |
Santa Clara County Fruit Exchange |
The West Side Fruit Growers Association was a dried fruit packing co-operative located in the Cupertino area on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley. The association's drying yard and packing house was on Stevens Creek Road near the current Woodham's Road.
The association was founded in 1891[1][2], and was merged into the Santa Clara County Fruit Exchange with the other local organizations. Charles W. Cutler was the first manager[3]. Eighty growers belonged to the association in 1893[4]. Colonel Philo Hersey was president from founding through at least 1896[5]. A.P. Saunders was president in 1902. A. W. Hudson was manager in 1917[6].
The union had a large twenty acre drying yard and processing plant[7],and handled 3,650 tons of fruit in 1893. There was a warehouse holding twenty carloads of fruit, a separate packing house, a boarding house, and additional outbuildings for cutting and dipping the fruit. The plant and its machinery cost $20,000; the West Side had 25,000 drying flats available for the season. In 1917, a huge rush of fruit required 23,000 trays to cover 20 acres of ground[8]. The company may have had a siding to the interurban line[9]. The Union also had a mechanical dryer; this was only to speed sun drying, and was not intended to fully dry fruit[10]. Manager Hudson discussed its use in saving fruit caught in the torrential downpours of mid-September 1917.
In the 1891, season, the association sold 50 carloads of fruit; in 1892, 30 carloads, and in 1893, 100 carloads were expected[11].
The organization lasted at least until 1922, appearing in a list of fruit packers in a Santa Clara County history continued to list them in 1922. The plant was taken over by Abinante and Nola in the mid 1930's; the buildings burned down in a fire on May 19, 1940[12]
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Side | 1891-1916 | Stevens Creek Road at Woodhams, Santa Clara |
References
- ↑ West Side Fruit Growers: March 20, 1891 San Jose Evening News. Articles of incorporation filed. Directors for first year are D.H. Blake, A.C. Lydhard, E.G. Hall, Colonel Philo Hersey, E.T. Petit, A. R. Woodhams, and S. P. Saunders.
- ↑ What the West Side Association Has Done: May 7, 1892 Pacific Rural Press. Article describes the plant, operation, and organization.
- ↑ Robert Couchman, Sunsweet Story
- ↑ How To Co-Operate: Organization of the Growers at West Side, and Working of a Dryer: July 15, 1893 Pacific Rural Press.
- ↑ Sunshine Fruit and Flowers
- ↑ The Evaporator and A. W. Hudson, Rain-Damaged Prunes: March 1920 Monthly Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, State of California, Supplement ofr the California Dehydration Convention in San Jose, Feb. 7, 1920.
- ↑ How To Co-Operate: Organization of the Growers at West Side, and Working of a Dryer: July 15, 1893 Pacific Rural Press. The plant handled 200 green tons of fruit a day, and required 150 workers during the height of the season.
- ↑ Dry-Grounds Saved By Heat From Deadlock. September 16, 1917 San Jose Mercury Herald.
- ↑ Supervisors in Regular Session: March 5, 1906 San Jose Evening News. "A delegation from the West Side Fruit Growers union was present and requested the right to lay a railroad switch from the drying plant to the railroad. The switch would cross the county road. The application was referred to Supervisor Roll with power to act."
- ↑ The Evaporator and A. W. Hudson, Rain-Damaged Prunes: March 1920 Monthly Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, State of California, Supplement ofr the California Dehydration Convention in San Jose, Feb. 7, 1920.
- ↑ How To Co-Operate: Organization of the Growers at West Side, and Working of a Dryer: July 15, 1893 Pacific Rural Press.
- ↑ Ruins All That Remain Of Packing Plant: May 20, 1940 San Jose Evening News.