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Courtesy Scappoose Historical Society Hansen collection
Scappoose will be the site of the largest conserving plant in the northwest it became virtually assured this week when the California Conserving company of San Francisco purchased a 5-acre tract in the south part of Scappoose and announced plans to rush to completion a $60,000 plant.
Four hundred acres of cucumber and cabbage have been ? on the Scappoose delta lands and if the product is up to the company's expectation a processing plant which will cost between $800,000 and 1 million dollars will be erected in the fall. The company has an option for of 10 acres adjoining the proposed site which it will use for building purposes.
The locating of the plant at Scappoose is due to the efforts of E.E. Wist of the First National Bank who has worked for the last year or so with the company, pointing out the advantages of the Columbia county site.
Surveyors at Work
The tract to be occupied has a 507-foot frontage along the east side of the S.P.&S. tracks, just opposite the Scappoose school. Surveyors were at work yesterday preparing plans for a spur track. The company's building will cover almost the entire acreage. The purchase of the land was completed Tuesday.
This year between 40 and 50 persons will be employed at the plant putting the cucumbers in brine. It is estimated 4,000 tons of cucumbers and 500 tons of cabbage will be handled from this year's crop. The cucumbers remain in brine for six months so if the processing plant is built, this year's crop will be handled in its entirety at Scappoose.
Acreage to Increase
Ultimately it is expected to contract 1,000 acres of cucumbers and between 1,500 and 2,000 carloads of the finished product will leave Scappoose annually. When the processing plant is completed, the factory will furnish year round employment for 200 persons. The cabbage this year is a minimum order and next year the amount will be increased to 4,000 or 5,000 tons.
The California Conserving company has been known in Oregon as the Pacific Conserving company. It was established in San Francisco in 1860 and maintains now at Hayward, Cal., the largest individual conserving plant in the world.
St. Helens Sentinel Mist April 4, 1930
All the world loves pickles and the dining tables of America are never deemed complete without these accessories to good living. Because of this, an industry established at Scappoose has continued and flourished. This particular business is the Pacific Conserving Company's plant where cucumbers and cauliflower are conserved and the famous C.H.B. brand of pickles is manufactured. The company is a subsidiary of the California Conserving Company and is managed by H.D. Sheldon, who has held this post since the unit was established in Scappoose 11 years ago. In 1943, he added the managership for all of Oregon to his duties.
An idea of how important this plant is to people in the Scappoose area can best be gained by visiting the industry during the busy months of late summer and early fall. The plant operated the year round, but it is during the cucumber harvest that it is at its busiest. Since the industry was established in 1930, Scappoose farmers have been paid an average of $35,000 yearly and pickers have received an average of $16,000 per year.
During the peak season the Scappoose plant provides a means of livelihood for scores of people. It employs approximately 60 persons in the plant itself and in addition numerous other farmers and workers benefit in the harvest of the 300 or more acres of cucumbers for which the pickle works contracts each year.
The Story of Columbia County
Labels courtesy The Letterform Archive, San Francisco
Courtesy Scappoose Historical Society Hansen collection
Courtesy Scappoose Historical Society Hansen collection
Courtesy Scappoose Historical Society Hansen collection
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