This is a wonderful museum showing the history and evolution of the fruit industry in the Okanagan Valley. When visiting Kelowna this is a must see and also learn more about the apple orchards by taking one of the many farm tours offered in the area.
There are displays of equipment used for grading the apples. Only the prime grade apples were used for shipment. The others were used for apple juice or in some cases applesauce. There are some vintage apple crate labels displayed throughout the museum. There are several old photographs of pickers in the fields, women working in the packing house, and several orchard scenes with the apple trees in full bloom.
The museum is housed in the Laurel Packing House. Its construction spanned 1917 to 1918. It is constructed of bricks made locally from clay from Knox Mountain. It continued as a working packinghouse until the 1970s.
In 1982, the Laurel Packinghouse was slated for demolition. Largely through the efforts of the Kelowna Museums Society, the building was saved and became Kelowna’s first designated heritage building. Over the next six years, the Laurel Packinghouse was restored.
A little history about the apple industry’s humble beginning:
In 1859, Father Pandosy arrived in Kelowna in 1859 to set up a Catholic mission. He was one of the first white settlers in the Okanagan Valley. On the mission property, Father Pandosy planted a few apple trees. He wanted apples just for use at the mission.
The Okanagan’s first commercial orchard did not appear until over 30 years after Father Pandosy planted his first few trees.
Lord Aberdeen started some of the earliest commercial orchards in the Valley. Lord and Lady Aberdeen, who had come to British Columbia from Great Britain, were convinced that apples could be grown in the Okanagan Valley.
In the early 1890s, Lord Aberdeen bought the 13,000 acre Coldstream Ranch near Vernon and the 480 acre McDougall Ranch in Kelowna. The McDougall Ranch was renamed Guisachan and is now a preserved heritage site.
Admission is by donation.
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