Descriptive Summary
Important Information for Researchers
Historical Background
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Collection Arrangement
Processing Note
Related Collections
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Historic American Buildings Survey report on the Yorba Orange Growers Association Packing House
Date: 1934-2000,
Date (bulk): bulk 2000
Collection Number: MS-R145
Creator:
Hatheway & Associates
Extent:
1.8 linear feet
(5 boxes)
Languages: The collection is in English.
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) report documents the Yorba Orange Growers Association Packing House in Anaheim,
California with machinery in place, an important element for understanding the historical operation of such packing houses.
Important Information for Researchers
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Preferred Citation
Yorba Orange Growers Association Packing House Records. MS-R145. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries,
Irvine, California.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Roger and Laura Hatheway of Hatheway & Associates and Robert W. Guthrie of Guthrie Development, 2008.
Processing History
Processed by Hatheway & Associates and Joanna Lamb, 2008-2009.
Historical Background
The first orange trees were planted in California in 1804 at the San Gabriel Mission, but Californians did not begin to export
citrus to the east in significant quantity until 1877, after the opening of the transcontinental railroad. Soon after, citrus
fruit became California's chief export and provided a significant economic base for the young state. The earliest California
orange crops, Navel and Valencia oranges, were grown and harvested in Riverside and Orange County.
Distribution complications in the early 1890s resulted in financial hardship for many growers, which led to the emergence
of local association packing houses, known as grower's cooperatives, allowing growers to pool their resources and crops for
the sole purpose of improving the outcome of sales. The Southern California Fruit Exchange was established in 1893 to unite
local grower's associations into one general marketing cooperative, which sought to establish high production standards for
both growers and packers in order to obtain the highest sale prices back east. In 1908 at the advice of an advertising agency,
the Exchange adopted the Sunkist trademark, and in 1952 the organization officially changed their name to Sunkist Growers,
Inc. As part of Sunkist's federated structure, local associations like the Yorba Orange Growers Association were licensed
to pack only the fruit of the Sunkist growers belonging to the association.
The Yorba Orange Growers Association (YOGA) emerged to replace the Associated Anaheim Growers after the AAG packing house
was destroyed by fire in July 1943.The AAG board acted swiftly to establish YOGA with the Santa Fe Land Improvement Company
and construction progressed rapidly on a new packing house which was operational by October 1944. At that time the YOGA Packing
House was a state-of-the-art packing facility, which remained technologically competitive through the next three decades.
No significant additions or upgrades were made after 1979. The YOGA Packing House closed on April 28, 2000. By the end of
2001 the packing house had been torn down and a business park had been built on the property.
The historic significance of the packing house led to a Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) project in 2000 in accordance
with the guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. HABS is administered by Heritage
Documentation Programs, the Federal Government's oldest preservation program. HABS was created in 1933 to document America's
architectural heritage by recording the history of significant built environments prior to their destruction.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) report documents the Yorba Orange Growers Association Packing House in Anaheim,
California with machinery in place, an important element for understanding the historical operation of such packing houses.
The report includes a collection inventory; photographic prints of the Packing House and its closure; architectural drawings;
interviews; photocopies of historical documents, including correspondence, incorporation documentation, telegrams, and other
business related documents; and a book.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged in general accordance with Historic American Building Survey (HABS) and the Historic American
Engineering Report (HAER) guidelines.
Processing Note
Prior to their donation to UC Irvine, the materials were compiled and organized by Hatheway and Associates. Hatheway's original
arrangement has been retained.
Related Collections
Related materials can be found in the following collections:
- Irvine Valencia Growers Packing House Records. MS-R114. . Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine,
California.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Irvine Valencia Growers, Inc. -- Archives.
Citrus fruit industry -- California -- Irvine -- Archives.
Citrus fruits -- Cooperative marketing -- California -- Irvine -- Archives.
Historic buildings -- California -- Irvine -- Archives.
Land use -- California -- Irvine -- Archives.
Orange County (Calif.) -- Archives.
Genres and Formats of Materials
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 21st century.
Film negatives -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Slides -- 20th century.
Occupations
Orange growers.
Packing-house workers.
Contributors
Historic American Buildings Survey.