Historic Packinghouses and Other Industrial Structures in Southern California

Virtual Tour of the
Saticoy Lemon Association Packing House
Fillmore, CA

October 2008

Copyright 2008, 2010, 2015 by James E. Lancaster, Ph.D.

All photos are by the author.

Notice:The images - photographs, drawings, maps and track diagrams - presented in this web site are the property of the respective contributors and may not be used for any purpose without permission. For more information see Photo Credits and Restrictions.

The Saticoy Lemon Association packing house is located between A Street and Orange Grove Street in Fillmore, CA on what was the SP Santa Paula branch. The stucco covered concrete structure was built in 1923 by the Fillmore Lemon Association. As of October 2008 the packing house had been sold and most of the equipment removed. It was scheduled to be demolished by the new owners.

The diagram above is from a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Fillmore, CA dated 1939. It shows the facilities of the Fillmore Lemon Association (later renamed the Saticoy Lemon Association). The main packing house is on the left and includes a "receiving and washing" room and a "lemon storage" room (a pre-cooler). The grading, sorting and packing occurred in the three large rooms adjacent to the tracks. At the top are smaller buildings labeled "box storage" and "fertilizer." In 1939 there was also a second building, shown on the right, used as a "box and fertilizer warehouse." This building was gone by the time I first photographed the Saticoy Lemon Association.

Click here to open a larger version of the Sanborn Map.

Photo Gallery

The following photos were taken on October 31, 2008. 

Figure 1. The central part of the packing house showing the cold storage room and the bin for juice lemons.

Figure 2. Close-up view of the juice bin.

Figure 3. The left part of the packing house showing the overhead conveyor to the storage building.

Figure 4. The right part of the packing house showing one of the loading docks.

Figure 5. Sign on the loading dock shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6. The interior of the main room of the packing house. This room was directly behind the dock shown in Figure 4. Note the sawtooth roof.

Figure 7. The view from the opposite side of the main room of the packing house. Note the raised office.

Figure 8. The interior of a second large room of the packing house with more small offices.

Figure 9. Awards given to employees in 2004 were still on the wall of a small office.

Figure 10. A corrugated metal shed.

Figure 11a. Old wood field boxes stacked next to the metal shed.

Figure 11b. Closer view of field boxes stacked next to the metal shed.

Figure 11c. Close-up view of field box with lemon association name.

Figure 11d. Close-up view of field box with lemon association name.

Figure 12. Pallets of what appears to be shook, i.e., wood for making shipping crates.

Figure 13. Equipment used to wash the lemons. Various brushes are stacked along the wall at the right.

Figure 14. Close-up view of the brushes.

Figure 15. Interior of the cold storage room shown in Figure 1.

Figure 16. Sign on an interior wall.

Figure 17. Sign stapled to an interior wall.

More Photos

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