Ever wonder why we call our fair grounds the Cloverdale CITRUS Fair, when you don’t see that many citrus trees about town or on surrounding farmlands? Well, in the 1880s, there were 1170 acres in fruit including 500 orange trees and 2000 fig trees. The new fairgrounds, established in 1892, was named in honor of those citrus groves. In all, 95,000 lbs. of fruit were shipped from our depot on the San Francisco and No. Pacific Railroad to markets far and wide. This included 3885 acres of grapes producing 337,250 gallons of wine.
There is a 100+ year old orange tree on the grounds of what is now the Cloverdale History Museum. It was planted by Isaac Shaw in the garden of the Gould Shaw House, built in 1862. And the oranges are delicious!
