Brewers use the fruit of the hop plant to flavor beer. Beginning in the 1880s, hop growing brought great prosperity to western Washington state. In 1888 alone, over three quarters of a million pounds of hops were harvested in the area. The boom waned in the early 1890s when the fields were attacked repeatedly by an insect pest.
This photo, taken around 1900, shows a group of pickers and a wagon in the hop fields near Auburn, Washington. The hop vines were cultivated on tall poles, seen behind the horse team. As was common at the time, this group of hop pickers includes children as well as a number of Asians and Native Americans.
SHS category: Farming
ID Number: SHS6026
Date: Circa 1900
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : gelatin, b&w ; 13 x 18 cm.
