The Great Dayton Barley Corner
A local malt house proprietor pulls off the largest grain deal in Dayton's history, driving up prices and frustrating outside buyers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The largest deal ever transacted in grain circles in Dayton was pushed through Monday and Tuesday when 300,000 sacks of barley were contracted for by local buyers at $1 per hundred. The contracts call for A1 brewing barley, free from stain and subject to inspection. This is over two-thirds of the barley output of this section, which practically means two-thirds of the brewing barley raised in the state, as Dayton is the center of the largest barley growing section in Washington. Jacob Weinhard, proprietor of the Dayton Malt house, is the buyer. He has purchased the barley as a speculation and will hold it. The price paid is about 25 cents better than has ever been offered before at this time of the year. The contracts are being made direct with the farmers, the barley to be delivered as soon as threshed. The deal will mean the expenditure of about $350,000 in Dayton for barley alone, taking into consideration the expenses of handling. Local grain men say the price paid is about 17 1/2 cents better than the market will stand at present but they are of the opinion that A1 brewing barley will be quoted at $1 per hundred on the market in ten days.
“The deal will mean the expenditure of about $350,000 in Dayton for barley alone.”
This 1903 grain corner shows the sheer scale of the agricultural economy in the Walla Walla Valley at the turn of the century. It serves as a reminder that before it was a wine-growing region, the economy was built on the dominance of the grain trade and the local capital—like the Weinhard family’s influence—that controlled the regional supply chain.
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