From The Colorful Land of California

The incredible setting of Southern California
In the 1800s, expansive open areas along the Southern California coast and around Los Angeles enjoyed the natural color and beauty of native grasses and wild flowers. The Los Angeles Coastal Prairie, a large coastal area near the El Segundo dunes, featured vernal pools and marshes and was carpeted with spectacular displays of wildflowers. Indian paintbrush, mustard, lupin, poppies, verbena and other flowers formed a kaleidoscope of color that surprised and delighted residents and tourists alike. The sweet moisture of evening and morning coastal fog intermingled with daily rations of sunlight to create a nurturing, year-‘round semi-tropical growing environment where plants and flowers would flourish.

Spectacular growth of the Los Angeles area
In the 1800s, the great diversity and industry that characterizes Southern California today were beginning in earnest, including agricultural enterprises on the fringes of Los Angeles. Orange groves and dairy farms were common. Within the city’s limits (and very near today’s Flower District), the garment and fashion districts were putting down their roots. A second rail line, built between Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, brought in thousands of new residents and made it possible for California products to reach Eastern markets quickly. In 1890, Edwin Earl invented the refrigerated railcar and the first Tournament of Roses Parade was held in Pasadena. In 1892, Edward L. Doheny discovered oil in Los Angeles. By this time, the population of Los Angeles had passed the 50,000 mark.

Setting the pace of floriculture in California
In 1892, a handful of Japanese American farmers began planting and cultivating flowers in fields near Santa Monica and south of the fast-growing city of Los Angeles. Only a few Japanese Americans lived in Southern California at the time (possibly less than 100), with the greatest population residing in the northern part of the state, since San Francisco was the main port of entry. They made an impact upon the entire California flower industry that would set its pace for the future.

Beginning the Los Angeles Flower District
In 1913, the Japanese flower growers and sellers started the Flower Market (today's Southern California Growers Market) just a few blocks northwest of its current location. That market moved to the 700 block of South Wall Street, where it resides today, in 1923. Around 1924, the Los Angeles Flower Market of the American Florists Exchange, having incorporated around 1921, moved from its first location on Winston Street to a building across the street from the "Japanese market" on Wall Street. The 700 block of Wall Street became the core of the Los Angeles Flower District.

Everybody participated
William Mulholland’s California Aqueduct had ushered its first precious gallons of water to Los Angeles, from 200 miles north, in 1913, paving the way for unprecedented growth of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Los Angeles area’s floriculture industry was well underway, nurtured by dedicated families, smart business leaders and hard workers. Japanese American entrepreneurs followed a vertical chain concept that resulted in many essential operations – from farming to shipping to retail sales – being performed by Japanese American businesses from the beginning to the end of the supply chain. Other families, including many Hispanics,  grew flowers at first on small plots of ground and as the years went by, expanded and passed their businesses from generation to generation. Some of today's leaders in the floriculture industry started with the small land parcels and flower stands of yesteryear.

Over the years, as demand for fresh flowers increased, flower markets sprang up in Sacramento and San Francisco. In Los Angeles, the Flower District became the largest in the United States.

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