Henderson, William Thomas

Originally from New York, Robert Henderson and his family settled in Riverside in 1897. The family included his wife,Jennet, three sons, Robert L., Henry B. and William T., and a daughter, Jean Anne. His business in New York (Robert Henderson and Co.) served as an agency of domestic and foreign fruit products. When he came to Riverside, he bought a ten acre orange grove off of Victoria Avenue.

In 1897, Henderson, two of his sons, Robert and Henry, and two other men started the Riverside Fruit Company, packing and selling agency for the local growers at Twelfth Street and Pachappa Avenue. At the time the building was the largest packinhouse to be built in the city. The Riverside Fruit Companyrepresented the citrus brands of Alpha, Stella, and Elk. As of the directory of 1902, the business was still in operation as a packinghouse.

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