The Great Hop Rush of 1890
As Washington’s hop industry hits an all-time record, growers are warned that the quality of their crop—and the future of their international trade—hangs on meticulous curing.
The story, cleaned up
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It has been twenty-six years since the first hops were planted in the Puyallup valley—the first in Washington—and never before, with one exception, has there been so much rainfall and consequent heavy growth of vine. Unless signs fail, we will grow as large a crop as in 1888, with Oregon also yielding twenty thousand bales. The question remains: is the drying capacity of our growers sufficient? A house 24x24 feet square will properly cure an average of not over one thousand pounds per day. Growers must remember that our export trade sustains this industry; the English market is exacting. If we lower our standards of quality, we drive away the very buyers that have made this industry profitable.
“No market is more exacting than the English and none more discriminating as to the quality; if we will produce what they want they will buy; if not then they will let us severely alone.”
The 1890s hop boom laid the economic foundation for the Yakima Valley, which remains one of the world's premier hop-growing regions today. This story reflects a pivotal moment when local farmers realized that global demand required standardized quality control—a tension between local autonomy and international market forces that persists in modern agribusiness.
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