In 1922, Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. Wallace exclaimed in a journal article, “Agriculture is our greatest industry; transportation is our second greatest. These two industries are dependent upon one another and the national well-being is dependent upon them both.”
Starting in the late 1800’s, the California grape industry began to be shaped by a new opportunity: rail transport. Transporting fresh grapes by rail allowed growers to serve Central U.S. and East Coast markets, but with notable challenges in logistics and costs. Read more about it here.
While rail is no longer the primary transportation for grapes in California, you’ll notice evidence of this era on grape box labels! While most labels identify the county or city where the grapes were farmed, some that shipped from well-known rail stops also identify the name of the rail stop. Here are some examples:
This G-V-C label identifies “Prospero” which is not a city but was a rail stop
This Prosperity label identifies “Radnor, CA” which is not a city but was a rail stop
