Chapter 11 Agriculture

Route of Portola's Expedition.

When the first European settlers set their eyes on Los Angeles and the basin itself they clearly saw the potential for abundant farming. Father Juan Crespi, who was a member of the Portola Expedition exploring sites along the coast of California under the flag of Spain in 1769 wrote, "All the soil is black and loamy, and capable of producing every kind of grain and fruit which may be planted"

El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles 1869

In 1781, "El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles," was founded. Over the next several decades it grew into a small farming community, with both dry-land farming, and an irrigation system of ditches, or zanjas, that fed its wheat and maize.

By the 1830s, there were over 100 acres of vineyard producing wine and brandy. The community became known for its grape production, and by 1851, about 1,000 gallons of wine were shipped from Los Angeles.





A frontiersman and entrepreneur named William Wolfskill was the first to grow oranges commercially. The first commercial orange grove in the US was on a hill in what is now downtown Los Angeles, a forerunner of what was to become the massive Southern California citrus industry. Before he died in 1866, Wolfskill had more than 70 acres devoted to citrus.  

Washington navel orange.

In 1873, the Tibbets family in Riverside received two citrus trees that had been originally sent from Bahia, Brazil to the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. The fruit was large, easy peeling, sweet and seedless, with an inverted navel on the blossom end. This variety called the Washington navel orange became one of the most popular fruits in the world and is considered by many as the foundation of California's citrus and agriculture industry. One of the trees that started this industry still survives today in downtown Riverside.

With the completion of the transcontinental railroad system, travel time and costs were dramatically reduced, providing an effective new means of shipping produce. This inspired Joseph Wolfskill, William Wolfskill’s son, to make arrangements for the first load of oranges to be shipped from Los Angeles to St. Louis via the recently built Southern Pacific Railroad. Within 10 years of J. Wolfskill’s first shipment, entire trainloads of citrus were being sent east, and growers were realizing profits of $1,000 to $3,000 per acre.





In 1893, the independent growers of California decide to band together and form the Southern California Fruit exchange. In 1908 the exchange's ad agency, Lord and Thomas, coins a new name to use in citrus ad campaigns and the trademark "Sunkist,"is decided upon. It is used and stamped directly on the oranges themselves, which not only markets citrus, it markets the landscape and climate of Southern California.

San Fernando Valley Late 1950s.

From the turn of the 19th century into the 20th century the Citrus Industry continued to grow up until the end of WW II covering more than 300,000 acres in the Southern part of the State, although the marketing of the Citrus Industry not only sold oranges it attracted new residents from the Mid-West and the land that once produced most of the country's citrus became to valuable and large tracts of land were bought by developers and what was once a thriving industry disappeared under the growing suburbs.


 Although the citrus Industry is pretty much non-existent now, Los Angeles county continues to produce many agricultural products. Ornamental Trees and Shrubs are grown in green houses and cover over 1,480 field acres of space, which are valued at almost 120 million dollars and Los Angeles County ranks 2nd with a total of 9.4% of the states output. Root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and  beets are valued at 44 million dollars, while bedding plants come in at 35 million.      

Most of the agriculture found in L.A. County is now in the high desert.










Los Angeles at one time was called the Orange Empire and in the late 1800s until the beginning of WW II  agriculture was one of the driving economical forces that changed the landscape of Southern California. All one needs to do is drive down Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena to see the historical evidence of a once thriving industry. The street earned the name Millionaire's Row because of the wealth made in the agricultural endeavors.






Sources:

The Orange Empire

L.A. Facts

L.A Almanac