The Blue Anchor Building

Built in 1931, the Blue Anchor Building served as the headquarters for the California Fruit Exchange in the mid-20th century, during a period of rapid expansion and growth from 1932 to 1966. Incorporating over a thousand growers from throughout the state, the California Fruit Exchange is the largest deciduous fruit marketing cooperative association in the world. The property was designed by Starks and Flanders architectural firm in the Spanish Colonial Revival style combined with eclectic elements. The Blue Anchor Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. With its prominent location in downtown Sacramento, it offers a direct view of California’s State Capitol Building.

During the late 1700s, settlers began to cultivate deciduous fruit trees in California, although the commercial cultivation and production of fruit did not become profitable until after the Gold Rush of 1849. Two decades later, by 1869, a fruit production boom resulted in two tons of fruit being sent across the country to the East Coast, by way of the recently completed transcontinental railroad. Growers soon realized that despite this initial success, the continued growth and development of California’s fruit industry would depend on successful promotion in East Coast markets, along with cooperative marketing efforts and favorable freight rates. With this understanding, growers from throughout the state incorporated in 1901 as the California Fresh Fruit Exchange.

As a statewide cooperative association, the Exchange began to market California’s fresh fruit across the country and around the world. The Exchange also assisted with technical and financial operations related to fruit packing and shipping. Renamed the California Fruit Exchange in 1903, it continued to maintain its headquarters in downtown Sacramento. The Exchange was located on Jay Street between Third and Fourth Streets until 1913, after which time it relocated around the corner to the intersection of Jay Street and Fourth Street, where a new California Fruit Exchange building was constructed in 1914. The building housed several different fruit-shipping companies. By the late 1920s, the Exchange once again needed more space.

With real estate values especially low during the Great Depression in the early 1930s, the board of directors approved the purchase of a lot on the corner of Tenth Street and N Street, opposite the California State Capitol Building in downtown Sacramento. Completed in 1931, the Blue Anchor Building was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by the architectural firm of Starks and Flanders, which had designed many of the city's other civic and commercial buildings. The Blue Anchor Building served as the headquarters for the California Fruit Exchange from 1932 to 1966, a period of rapid expansion and growth. It was dedicated to George H. Cutter, a founding member of the Exchange, who also envisioned the Blue Anchor insignia.

In 1966, the State of California purchased the Blue Anchor Building, and the California Fruit Exchange relocated to a new facility that it constructed in Northeast Sacramento. Since then, the Blue Anchor Building has been occupied by several state agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. By 1981, the California Fruit Exchange had incorporated over a thousand growers from throughout the state and had become the largest deciduous fruit marketing cooperative association in the world. The Blue Anchor Building, its former headquarters, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

"Blue Anchor Building: California Fruit Exchange", Nacht & Lewis. Accessed August 31st, 2023. https://nachtlewis.com/history_project/blue-anchor-building-california-fruit-exchange/.

"Blue Anchor Building: Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places", National Archives. August 27th, 1982. Accessed August 31st, 2023. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860543.

"National Register #83001224: Blue Anchor Building", Noe Hill. Accessed August 31st, 2023. https://noehill.com/sacramento/nat1983001224.asp.

MacCurdy, Rahno Mabel. The History of the California Fruit Growers Exchange. Los Angeles, CA. 1925.