The Valley of Heart’s Delight
Today, the only “fruit” associated with Silicon Valley is Apple, but until some 50 or more years ago, the area was known for fruit trees – specifically prunes. Let’s take a trip back in time and explore why Silicon Valley was once known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight.
Silicon Valley was previously known as the Santa Clara Valley, and at the time, fondly referred to as the Valley of Heart’s Delight. Silicon Valley is famously home to some of the nation’s most innovative technology companies. Today, its streets are lined with corporate campuses, some bold and colorful, while others are sleek and futuristic. However, in the not-so-distant past, you would have encountered a very different view. The area’s history is steeped in agriculture, and fruit trees – especially prunes – made up much of the landscape.
The Agricultural Legacy of the Santa Clara Valley (aka Silicon Valley)
Mission Santa Clara
Mission Santa Clara was founded on January 12, 1777, in – you guessed it – modern-day Santa Clara, California. While the primary goal of missions was to convert the indigenous people (in this case, the Ohlone), they also served as agricultural settlements. Each mission brought a variety of agricultural practices; capturing, storing and moving water for irrigation as well raising cattle, goats, sheep, corn, beans, wheat, and other crops. Mission Santa Clara’s first orchards weren’t planted until the mid-1850s; about the same time that folks were flooding into the newly established state of California in search of land and gold.
The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush played huge role in California’s agricultural history. During the Gold Rush, California’s population increased dramatically after gold was found at Sutter’s Mill in 1848. People from around the world swarmed the state, hoping to strike it rich. A lucky few found their fortune in gold. Others dispersed throughout the state, establishing farms and ranches. These folks soon realized one important truth – the “real” gold was California’s fertile soil. Before the Gold Rush, cattle ranching and wheat production dominated California’s agricultural scene. After the Gold Rush, this began to shift, with orchards and vineyards gaining popularity.
By 1860, Santa Clara Valley’s population had ballooned to over 11,000. Californians eagerly planted orchards throughout the valley, growing apricots, cherries, prunes, almonds, walnuts, apples, citrus and more. For the next century, the Santa Clara Valley reigned as the world’s largest fruit-producing and packing region, once boasting over 100,000 acres. Because of the abundance of fruits and nuts grown in the Santa Clara Valley, the region was known as The Valley of Heart’s Delight.
Founding the California Prune Industry: Louis Pellier
Like many, Louis Pellier was lured to California by the promise of gold. He left his home in the Agen region of France in 1947 to set out for the Golden State. After a short (and mostly unsuccessful) stint in finding gold, Louis made his way to San Francisco. There, he noticed something peculiar – apples selling for a dollar apiece. That is equivalent to about $40 today!
Louis’ journey into California agriculture began with that apple. Wheels turning in his head, he hatched a plan that would ultimately change the entire history of the Santa Clara Valley.
In 1850, Louis Pellier made his way to San Jose, the largest city in the Santa Clara Valley, and founded a nursery business, “City Gardens”. This change in course wasn’t completely rash, since Louis had roots in a French farming family. He used his agricultural knowledge, paying local children a penny for each fruit seed that would become nursery stock. By 1853, Louis had made enough money from the resulting trees to send his brother, Pierre, back to France to transport some very important cargo: French plum starts.
French plums + California rootstock = a match made in heaven
The first Petit d’ Agen plum starts arrived in the region a year later, when Louis’ brother Pierre returned with two large trunks full of seeds and cuttings. If you’re wondering how Pierre managed to transport cuttings across the Atlantic, the unconfirmed story is that he inserted the cuttings in potatoes to keep them moist.
Grafting helped these cuttings to thrive. By winter of 1856, Louis had successfully grafted the first cuttings onto native California plum tree stock. But Louis had another important trick up his sleeve, given his agricultural experience – he knew how to dry plums. The French called dry plums “pruneau” but in America, they were simply called “prunes”. This knowledge allowed Louis and other potential growers to offer a year-round product rather than simply a seasonal offering.
Louis’ Petit d’Agen plum hybrids, christened “California plums,” were an instant hit. Local growers were eager to get their hands on Louis’ cuttings as prunes were quickly becoming the most popular crop throughout the Santa Clara Valley. Before his death in 1872, Louis earned the nickname “The Prune King”. However, he would never witness the incredible success of the California prune industry. By 1900, 130 MILLION pounds of prunes were produced throughout the state. To this day, the vast majority of California Prunes descend from Louis’ French Petit d’Agen plums.
What makes the Petit d’Agen plum so special?
All prunes are made of plums – but not all plum varieties are well suited to make prunes. Unlike most other varieties, Petit d’Agen plums can fully ripen on the tree without fermenting. This results in a higher sugar content, ultimately yielding a delectably sweet, long-lasting prune.
What other crops was the Valley of Heart’s Delight known for?
Plum trees weren’t the only fruit that flourished in the Santa Clara Valley. The temperate climate and fertile soils in the Valley of Heart’s Delight gave rise to over 100,000 acres of family orchards and commercial plantings. During the 1920s and 1930s, virtually everyone who lived in the idyllic valley was involved in agriculture in some way. Most residents participated in growing, picking, packing, canning or selling.
Almonds, cherries, plums, apricots, and walnut trees grew across the expanse of the Valley, blanketing the valley floor in blossoms. For a few weeks each spring, The Valley of Heart’s Delight burst into a showy array of blooms, transforming the verdant landscape into a pastel-colored wonderland, making it appear to be covered in snow.
From agriculture to industry
The Valley of the Heart’s Delight remained the Nation’s largest fruit-packing and producing region through the 1960s. However, beginning with the surge in science and technology that came with the nearby Stanford University, the area’s landscape began a dramatic transformation. Soon, the Santa Clara Valley was the epicenter of the burgeoning transistor industry. Orchards were quietly removed to make way for a more urban landscape.
In 1971, journalist Don Hoefler popularized the term “Silicon Valley”. This moniker was a nod to the silicon used to make the transistors that are integrated into virtually all of today’s “smart technology” – from computers and iPhones to coffee makers. Today, only about 5000 acres of orchards remain throughout Silicon Valley. The area’s agricultural roots have given way to industry giants like Apple, Cisco, Intel and even Facebook. Some growers moved to the Sacramento or San Joaquin Valley, while others abandoned agriculture entirely. However, a few nods to the area’s history remain:
Pellier Park, San Jose, CA
Pellier Park honors the history of the prune industry and agricultural pioneer Louis Pellier. The recently revamped prune-shaped Pellier Park is located on ground that was once Pellier’s City Nursery, near San Pedro Square. A vibrant purple mural engages visitors with the history of prunes in the Santa Clara Valley and tells the story of The Valley of Heart’s Delight.
The Pruneyard, Campbell, CA
Originally a pear and prune orchard called Brynteson Ranch, the 27-acre Mission Revival-style open-air shopping center, The Pruneyard, was built in the late 1960s.
Mariani Water Tower, San Jose, CA
The Mariani Water Tower marks where the company’s packing plant originally stood. Today, Mariani Water Tower now serves as a not-so-obvious cell tower. It is surrounded by Mariani Square, a townhome complex built with some of the original bricks from the packing plant.
Arboreum Company
The Arboreum Company is dedicated to preserving fruit tree cultivars from days past. It began when C. Todd Kennedy’s father decided that he wanted to plant some of the old fruit trees he remembered from his childhood in The Valley of Heart’s Delight. However, he struggled to find many of the older varieties. When Kennedy reached out to nearby research stations, he discovered that land grant universities were planning on shutting down their orchards due to budget cuts. This meant that their collection of fruit tree varieties, dating all the way back to the 1880s, would be lost. Kennedy jumped into action, collecting and preserving as many of these unique varieties as he could. Today, some scientists believe that older varieties, like those found in Kennedy’s collection, may be essential to developing new drought and disease-resistant varieties.
Ever heard of the Healdsburg Prune Packers? This local collegiate baseball team originally started in San Jose, where a group of young men packed prunes during the day and played baseball at night. The team relocated to Healdsburg in 1921 – back when prunes, not wine, was the area’s most famous crop.
If you’re in Healdsburg during the summer months, check the Prune Packer’s schedule and catch a game!
Article by Hilary Rance. Photography by Hilary Rance, James Collier, Meza Studios, Erin McNeil and Alycia Moreno.