Farm Origins
The rich history of the land that is now home to Curry & Company’s headquarters rivals the fertility of the soils upon which the company was built. In 1884, the Oregon State Legislature approved drainage of various bodies of water so the land could be used for agricultural purposes. Among the water drained into the Willamette River was that from Lake Labish, completed by Madison Lafayette (M.L.) Jones in 1911.
The drainage, which took several years, yielded a rich black land that M.L. Jones shared with neighboring ranches and allowed for production of onions, celery and many other crops. Onions were very profitable and the celery quality was not only outstanding, but yielded 10 – 14 days earlier than other productions. Celery was the mainstay of the operation. The Jones farm, becoming known as Labish Meadows around 1920, was one of about 80 farms in the area growing crops on the lake bottom. At that time, M.L.’s son Ronald E. Jones assumed management of the farm. Of course, all work was done only with the assistance of horses; planting, hoeing, weeding and harvesting one row at a time. 100 lb burlap sacks of dried, topped onions were consolidated in Brooks, OR to be distributed to the domestic market by rail but celery was still king until about 1940. At that time, new varieties were introduced that allowed production of celery in other regions, and the additional cost of shipping eliminated the national market for celery. That is when onions dominated Labish Meadows production and Ronald Jones established Oregon Onions.