We always knew it would happen sooner or later and it finally did. On January 28th, Fullerton lost its last commercial orange grove. Nearly 500 Valencia orange trees (and many avocado, pecan, and pine trees) were removed on what used to be the property of Kimberly-Clark, which closed its plant in 2020. The reason for the removal of so many beautiful trees? The new owner has plans to build four new warehouses on the site.
Tom and I took a drive along Acacia Avenue this week. This is what we saw for quite some distance – tree after tree downed:
For Fullerton, where I live, the removal of this last orange grove is a rather sad, but significant event. Between the 1890s and the 1950s, the sale of Valencia oranges in the Fullerton-Placentia area greatly boosted the economy.
Here are some of the details of how this came to be. A politician and businessman (and later mayor of Fullerton and founder of Chapman University), Charles C. Chapman decided to purchase and cultivate a small citrus ranch as a hobby after he moved from the Midwest to Southern California in 1894. He had heard that Valencia oranges would last longer than navel oranges if he were to sell them. With business interests in mind, he sent for some Valencia orange seedlings from Europe and planted them on land that is now part of California State University, Fullerton. Those seedlings grew and grew.
Then in the early 1920s, the Bastanchury brothers, who had emigrated from France, applied for and received a $14 million loan to convert their sheep ranch into a Valencia orange grove. They were successful entrepreneurs – so much so that the Bastanchury Ranch became known as the world’s largest citrus grove. It was located in what is now known by locals as the Sunny Hills section of Fullerton.
This is where the Elephant Packing House at 201 W. Truslow Ave. in Fullerton comes into the picture. Built in 1924 by the Union Pacific Railroad, it was first leased to a company named Elephant Orchards of Redlands, CA, to pack their Valencia oranges under the Elephant label.
In 1929 as the Depression was setting in, Fullerton High School even held a class to help adults gain employment in the citrus industry. The class taught adults how to pack oranges and was held at a local packing house. It’s very possible that the class was held at the Elephant Packing House.
In 1932, the Chapman family leased (or possibly bought) the Elephant Packing House to ship their Old Mission brand of Valencia oranges. They did this for twenty years until the citrus industry started to decline in Orange County. Although fewer oranges were being sold by the 1950s, Charles C. Chapman remained “the father of the citrus industry.” (Chapman was also the one behind the creation of artistically beautiful crate labels for the orange crates.)
But what about today? These days the Elephant Packing House is used for manufacturing or warehouse needs. It is no longer a packing house. In the recent past, it was leased by a company that sold and manufactured home-built aircraft kits and parts.
The largest producers of citrus are now located in Florida and Arizona. Florida, though, produces the greatest number of Valencia oranges.
In closing, thank you for letting me share these snippets of Orange County history with you. I learned a lot myself in researching this golden era. See you next week.
Love reading your stories, so interesting.
Thank you, Jackie! Hope you are well.
I spent a fair amount of time at the Fullerton mill in the 80’s and 90’s supporting projects for Kimberly-Clark. We joked at the time that the property was more valuable than the mill. KC had announced several years ago that they intended to close the mill but needed to build capacity elsewhere to replace what that site made.
I also was able to visit your mom and dad on a couple of those trips and even experienced my first earthquake in the parking lot there.
When I see your pictures of the site I’m reminded of what the Everett mill site looks like now. It’s tough to think about all the money and time spent improving those mills only to have everything torn down.
Pete, I remember that you worked for Kimberly Clark and that you visited plants (and lived) in different parts of the world. I think you would be saddened by what everything looks like now at the Fullerton location. We drove around the outside of the property (it’s all fenced off, of course) and the buildings appear to be in partial state of demolition. I didn’t know about your first experience with earthquakes. I guess that would be something to remember! Take care and thanks for your comments.
Love this. We have been to Valencia in Spain and seen many oranges growing. In Sevilla, there are orange trees all over town, so much so that the oranges are falling down. However, they are said to be not good for eating. They are sent to England, where they are made into marmalade.
Wow! Very interesting, Gail. Love reading your comments!
Very interesting story, Karleen, but I agree–sad too. Thank you for sharing this valuable piece of history.
Things change, but we like to hold onto the past. Hope you are doing well, Theresa.