Carpinteria's Lima Bean History - Carpinteria, California - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

This sign contains more than anyone ever needed to know about lima beans. It was erected when the old lima bean packinghouse was finally demolished to develop condos on the valuable real estate underneath.

Excerpts from the text:

"The Henry Fish Seed Company Packinghouse

For nearly a century, the Henry Fish Seed Company packinghouse stood on this site. Built in 1910 to replace a smaller facility, the packinghouse handled the yearly shipment of thousands of tons of lima beans - the crop that became the mainstay of Carpinteria Valley agriculture for over seventy years."

"The Fish limas put Carpinteria into the seed catalogues as the Carpinteria Fordhook was patented and put on the market in the early 1900s. This was a new type of plant which was discovered in 1903 in one of his fields by his son, Henry Berrien Fish. It was a plant of bush form with larger, finer pods. When enough seed could be spared, beans from this plant were cooked and found to be of excellent flavor. The best feature of the plant was that it did not trail on the ground but grew erect, and the pods were held high and thus less susceptible to mildew."

"The Henry Fish Seed Company continued under the management of his son, Henry Berrien Fish and his estate until the 1950s, when Alfred Thurmond grew the last crop of lima beans and the bean house was purchased by a tomato packing concern. It later became the home of Carpinteria Motor Transport, an avocado truck shipping company operated by the Bliss Family."

"Since those early days, genetic engineering and selection have changed nearly all of our garden vegetables, but the fresh frozen Fordhook limas that we buy now are the same bean that Henry Fish perfected in the early 20th century in his Carpinteria bean field."

Group that erected the marker: Peter Lewis, developer Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 410 Palm Avenue Carpinteria, CA USA 93013 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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