The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historical Preservation has awarded a $12,000 grant to the City of Yakima, which will allow it to determine the feasibility of creating a National Historic District on First Avenue – Yakima's ‘Fruit Row’.
Fruit Row, which dates back to early in the 1900s, is the name given to the area along First Avenue between D Street and Yakima Avenue, where large fruit companies had their warehouses. These included Ackley Fruit, Hansen Fruit & Cold Storage, and Pacific Fruit & Produce. Fruit was brought to the area from outside the city, then sorted, packed, and loaded onto boxcars that sat waiting, kept cool by huge blocks of ice. Most of the fruit shipped from Yakima went to customers on the East Coast. The row became the center of the fruit industry in the Yakima Valley.
The grant will be used to take an inventory of the buildings left on Fruit Row, and establish their condition, according to Trevor Martin, the staff liaison between the Preservation Commission and the city. Martin added that if the buildings are in good shape, the area could be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, which in turn might help investment.
On the Yakima side, Jason White, the city council's liaison, says the grant provides an opportunity to keep working on an intriguing project.
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