West Virginia 9

—Charles Town to Martinsburg —

The Hockensmith Apple Storage Building, constructed circa 1900-1910, is one of the few remaining commercial buildings in the area reflecting the Eastern Panhandle's significant orchard industry. The area's underlying limestone bedrock forms a red clay topsoil conductive to the growth of apples, pears, peaches, and cherries, and provided the incentive for area farmers to begin pursuing small-scale fruit production after the Civil War. Prior to 1890, orchard production was very limited with only about 3 to 6 acres devoted to orchards. Jefferson County focused on apples and, to a lesser extent, sour cherries while Berkeley County specialized in apples and peaches.

As production increased around the turn of the 20th century; small family farms started to give way to larger commercially-operated orchard. As a result, regional farmers were able to re-establish a prominent position in the Eastern marketplace after experiencing a decline fueled by fierce competition from Midwestern grain producers and cattle ranchers.

Following the local shift from cattle and grain agriculture to fruit production, the Hockensmith property was converted from probably cattle industry to use a fruit storage facility and apple evaporating plant. From its Bardane location, the dehydrated apples were shipped to larger markets via the B&O Railroad.



The emerging, large-scale orchard production also contributed to the florescence of a local fruit processing industry, with plants established in Martinsburg and Inwood.

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