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Welcome toSelah, WA"Apple Juice Capital of the World" |
Selah--Today
The city of Selah has a population of 5,400 people, although nearly 20,000 more live in the surrounding area and consider themselves part of the Selah community.
Selah has an average of 8 inches annual rainfall with an additional 25 inches of snowfall. There are about 300 days of sunshine which means hot, dry summers and cold (but rather sunny) winters. The altitude is 1,068 feet.
The area surrounding Selah is primarily orchards, mostly apples, with some pears and cherries. Some hay is grown and irrigated pastures raise cattle and horses. The Wenas Valley just north of Selah is home to a number of farms and ranches.
Residents enjoy "Selah Community Days" on the third Friday and Saturday of every May.
In 1994 Selah celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary. Selah was founded and named in 1850 by pioneer, Father Pandosy. From the "Bible Dictionary" by James P. Boyd, the word Selah is defined as "a rock-founded city of Edom, the petra of the Greeks, halfway between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba."
Many years ago Native Amerian tribes used the calmest waters of the Selah valley as a salmon fishery. The Lewis and Clark map showed it as Selartar. Some old documents, maps and books used a spelling close to Selah: "See-lah."
On June 28, 1868, the overly large Yakima County school district, divided up into four smaller districts. Selah (and Wenas to the north) were included in school district number four. The first schools were one-room log construction with homemade furniture and seats. The recitation seats were splits logs with holes bored at each end and pegs inserted for legs. Family records mentioned children carring a lunchpail and looking forward to "playing ball" at noon time.
Much more about the history of Selah Schools
There are three fresh fruit packing and storage plants in Selah - Larson Fruit Co., Matson Fruit Co., and Zirkle Fruit Co. Selah is home to two processing plants producing apple juice and other juice products -- Tree Top and Yakama Juice.
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Tree Top, the world's largest apple and pear processor, is a grower-owned cooperative with 2,500 grower-owners in the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The cooperative's corporate headquarters and two of its six processing plants are located in Selah. In 1998 there were 662 Tree Top employees in Selah, earning a payroll of $20 million. Although Tree Top pure apple juice and cider remain the backbone of its sales, the cooperative markets other consumer packaged goods, such as blended fruit juices and beverages and applesauce. Tree Top also produces and sells in bulk an extensive array of dried, frozen and concentrated fruit products as ingredients used in the food industry. In the 1998 fiscal year, Tree Top processed over 350,000 tons of apples and pears, posting sales of $211 million. You can visit the cooperative's web site for more information. www.treetop.com The United States produces only 10% of the world's apples, but there is a world-wide market for the fruit and it's juices. The year 1995 was the 35th anniversary for Tree Top, which is a reminder that the apple juice industry is very young in North America. |
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Yakama Juice LLC is pleased to announce that the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation has acquired the assets of the former Hi-Country Foods Corporation. Yakama Juice LLC is the first business venture by the Nation outside reservation boundaries and is the first Native-American owned juice plant in the United States. The Nation feels the acquisition allows the tribe to expand its capabilities and become part of a larger community. Yakama Juice is primarily a private label packer producing products for Store (House) Brand labels. We also do Co-pack (contract) packaging using your own label and producing product to your specifications. We use your formulas, ingredients, and packaging materials or ours, or a combination of yours and our ingredients and packaging materials. We have our own Research & Development Department for developing formulas to your specifications and we have quite a substantial list of formulas already developed that you can choose from. We also produce fresh pressed juices primarily from local fruit sources right here in the Yakima Valley (regarded as the "Apple Capitol of the World"). We can produce juice concentrates as well.
Please visit our company website at www.yakamajuice1855.com |
Graham Manufacturing, another Selah industry, has thirty-five plants, that make it the world's largest plastic bottle manufacturer and recycler.
The city of Selah has 40 to 45 employees and a budget of about $9.4 million. You can send postal mail to the City of Selah at 115 W. Naches Ave., Selah, WA 98942. These phone numbers may be of interest:
About Yakima