Fruitvale, Washington — Orchards Left; the Name Stayed

Fruitvale lies northwest of central Yakima, and the name once worked almost like an advertisement.

Irrigation made commercial fruit growing possible across dry valley ground. Orchards and farms spread close enough to Yakima that urban expansion eventually reached them.

Residential streets, businesses and industrial uses replaced portions of that agricultural landscape.

Fruitvale became part of the continuous Yakima urban area without incorporating separately.

The name survived the transformation better than many of the fruit trees did.

That gives an ordinary modern address a little historical residue: Fruitvale still describes the economic promise that once made the land valuable, even where the orchard itself is gone.