Oxnard Sugar Beets
Ventura County's Lost Cash Crop
Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Photography, Pictorials, Travel, Science & Nature, Technology, Agriculture & Animal Husbandry, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
| Author: | Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt | ISBN: | 9781439658291 |
| Publisher: | Arcadia Publishing Inc. | Publication: | October 31, 2016 |
| Imprint: | The History Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt |
| ISBN: | 9781439658291 |
| Publisher: | Arcadia Publishing Inc. |
| Publication: | October 31, 2016 |
| Imprint: | The History Press |
| Language: | English |
In the early 1890s, farmers Albert Maulhardt and John Edward Borchard discovered Ventura County's favorable conditions for a highly profitable new cash crop: the sugar beet. Not long after inviting sugar mogul Henry T. Oxnard to the area, construction began on a $2 million sugar factory capable of processing two thousand tons of beets daily. The facility brought jobs, wealth and the Southern Pacific rail line. It became one of the country's largest producers of sugar, and just like that, a town was born. Despite the industry's demise, the city of Oxnard still owes its name to the man who delivered prosperity. A fifth-generation descendant, local author and historian Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt details the rise and fall of a powerful enterprise and the entrepreneurial laborers who helped create a city.
In the early 1890s, farmers Albert Maulhardt and John Edward Borchard discovered Ventura County's favorable conditions for a highly profitable new cash crop: the sugar beet. Not long after inviting sugar mogul Henry T. Oxnard to the area, construction began on a $2 million sugar factory capable of processing two thousand tons of beets daily. The facility brought jobs, wealth and the Southern Pacific rail line. It became one of the country's largest producers of sugar, and just like that, a town was born. Despite the industry's demise, the city of Oxnard still owes its name to the man who delivered prosperity. A fifth-generation descendant, local author and historian Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt details the rise and fall of a powerful enterprise and the entrepreneurial laborers who helped create a city.
