Mesa works to preserve Arizona's fading citrus history
FOX 10's Steve Nielsen catches up with Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman about the city's effort to preserve one of the Cs that Arizona is known for – citrus.
He says protecting Arizona's agriculture is important and that the city stands ready to preserve it.
MESA, Ariz. - Arizona was founded on the five Cs: copper, cattle, cotton, citrus and climate.
As time has moved on, citrus has fallen off, but the city of Mesa is trying to preserve that part of our agricultural history.
What we know
More than 200 acres are tucked away in the city of Mesa at Gene Autry Park.
"These are one of the last bastions here of citrus here in the East Valley," Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman said. "Ironically, this area is one of the last city of Mesa-owned orchards. We're here at Gene Autry Park. These trees are well over 90 years old."
The land these oranges are grown on can't be used for much else.
"We've created a safety zone for the aircraft flying back and forth through Falcon Field, and so this area will always be predominantly citrus," Mayor Freeman said.
So citrus it will remain – beautiful, a great smell when they bloom – but also a history lesson growing right in front of our eyes that started in the 1910s.
"These orchards were established and, remember, there was nothing out here and this citrus here, it was sent all over the world because, predominantly, the competition was between California, Arizona and Florida," Mayor Freeman explained.
Dig deeper
Over the years, as Mesa's population has exploded, orange groves have become more and more rare.
"The land has become more valuable for development, so the landowners that own their land in citrus today are selling to developers for building homes or other things," Mayor Freeman said.
But, these Valencia oranges will remain.
Once they're ready, they'll be sold and shipped to Yuma where they'll be squeezed for fresh orange juice.
That's the way it will be, because these trees will grow just like the city of Mesa, and they aren't going anywhere.
"The protection of our agriculture is so important and Mesa stands ready to preserve that," Mayor Freeman said.
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