September03_2010

Botanical Glossary - Home - References Cited

Photos - Scenes along 1st Street in Naramata at Wharf Park: Two ladies heading for the beach with their dog (left), A Co-Op Packing house building on the waterfront (center), and a view of the rear section of the Naramata Co-Op Packing House located at 3655 2nd Street.

The packing Houses of 1912 began packaging small quantities of salable fruit, which was formerly packaged by the farmers for export. As the orchards grew so did the work to package the fruit. By 1919 there were two small buildings on this site operated by Wilstoncroft and Wells in one building and Mr Mallory in the other. By 1920 Naramata Fruit Union was formed as a subsidiary of Summerland Fruit Union and everything went okay fine until a severe loss of crop in 1922. At that point the Associated Growers of BC was formed with Naramata joining several cooperatives which made each of the members more independent. The 'OK' Brand brand was adopted by the chain and became well known and very successful. In 1943 there was a major fire which leveled much of the original co-op (one of the buildings still left from prior to the fire is pictured in top row, center frame). In the 1970s several new buildings with atmosphere controlled storage were built to assist in processing fruit giving the facility its more modern look (The buildings in this row, frame left were built after the fire of 1943).

Photos - North face views of the Naramata Co-Op Packing House that overlooks 1st Street. The packinghouse was closed down about a year ago due to the fact, I suppose, of the declining interest in apples and other orchard fruit and the increased interest in cash crops of grapes and the making of vineyards. The Co-Op buildings are for rent or for lease through David Perry of Re Max Realty in Penticton. It is widely known that locals were hoping to generate interest with film companies to create a film studio here, but so far nothing has happened with the lot. It would be a shame to see these vintage buildings torn down and the site redeveloped.

Photos - Frame left: One last shot of the curved roof of the Packinghouse originally built in the orchard boom days of the 1920s when these buildings replaced the Lakeside Hotel and old townsite homes.

Frames right and center: Front views of the Naramata Heritage Inn located at 3625 1st Street. The building was originally called Hotel Naramata and was built in 1908. Originally the hotel was constructed in mission revival style (12 room Inn), then restored in 2001 and reopened as the Naramata Heritage Inn and Spa.

Click here for more photos of Naramata for this day.