The Packing Houses

Grower Associations/Cooperative

With the rise of marketing cooperatives like the California Fruit Growers Exchange (later known as Sunkist), growers joined forces to pack and market their fruit collectively. These associations operated packinghouses, often owned by the cooperative or its local branches, such as Queen Colony Fruit Exchange and Corona Foothill Lemon Company. If you want to learn more, Read about the Citrus Unions.

Growers delivered their fruit to these facilities, where association-employed workers (not the growers themselves) would sort, grade, label, and pack the fruit into the branded boxes.

Independent Packers

Some larger or more established growers, such as W.H. Jameson, continued to use their own private packinghouses often remaining outside of the cooperative system. Private packing companies also existed independently and offered contract packing services to multiple growers.

In The Beginning

The first carload of citrus shipped from South Riverside were oranges in 1893, grown by George L. Joy, A.S. Fraser, and N.C. Hudson. No packinghouses existed at this time, so it's unclear whether the fruit was packed in the fields or at the railroad station.

1. Sunset Packinghouse

The city's first packinghouse was the Sunset Packinghouse, built in 1894 by Leo Kroonen, whose personal artifacts are now displayed at the Heritage Park museum. The facility was 40,000 square feet. It was owned by George Brown, Frank Scoville, and T.P. Drinkwater. As the industry grew, several competing companies began purchasing fruit directly from local growers and shipping it to wholesale markets. The need for a more efficient and profitable marketing strategy led to the formation of the Queen Colony Fruit Exchange.

The Queen Colony Fruit Exchange was founded in 1897 and later renamed the Corona Citrus Association in 1905. As the cooperative expanded, it aimed to centralize its operations. In 1910, the association purchased the Sunset Packinghouse for $9,000.

Tragedy struck in 1945 when the packinghouse burned down. Due to wartime material shortages, reconstruction was delayed until 1947. Jameson’s Orange Heights, Call Estate, and Foothill (all neighboring citrus companies) came to the rescue, generously allowing the use of their facilities to keep operations going. The rebuilt Sunset Packinghouse was later renamed Corona College Heights and continued under the Sunkist brand until the association eventually relocated its packing operations to Riverside in 1964.

Summary

1894 - Sunset Fruit Company is established
1897 - Queen Colony Fruit Exchange is established
1905 - Corona Citrus Association
1910 - Association purchases Sunset Fruit Company
1945 - Packing house burns down
1947 - New facility is rebuilt
1950s - Begins operation under Sunkist brand
1964 - Association moves to Riverside packing facility

2. W.H. Jameson Packinghouse

The city's second packinghouse was built in 1898 by W.H. Jameson, located across the railroad tracks from the Sunset Packinghouse. At nearly 11,000 square feet, almost three times the size of the original Sunset facility at the time. It became a major employer in the area, with a workforce of 200 at its peak.

The packinghouse closed in 1963 and, after a fire in 1974, was torn down in 1975.

Summary

1898 - W. H. Jameson Company
???? - Corona Citrus Association
1963 - Packing house closes

More coming soon... We have at least 13 packinghouses to talk about!