With the growth of the apple industry in Washington during the late nineteenth century, dozens of apple orchards sprung up in the area by the early 1900s. Fruit packing quickly became the main industry of Meyers Falls (now Kettle Falls).[2]
The warehouse was built in 1906 by a co-op of orchardists, on land owned by the railroad, right next to the tracks. The building was set up so that horses with wagon loads of fruit could drive into the basement from the west end of the building, drop off their loads, and exit through the east end of the building. In 1910, an addition was built on the east end, which effectively doubled the size of the warehouse. Porches were added, and large doors were installed on both sides of the building for loading and unloading.[1]
As an example of quantity of fruit processed in the warehouse, 40 railcars of fruit were processed through the depot in 1906. After the flooding of 1939 due to the Grand Coulee Dam, fruit processing volumes plummeted, but the warehouse was still used as the main processing and shipping point for northeastern Stevens County.
