The swamp-covered land on the lower portion of the Irvine Ranch was once thought to be useless. However, the marshy, salt watered soil created the perfect growing conditions for one of Orange County’s leading agricultural crops in the early 1900s; the sugar beet.
By 1901, Orange County was the nation’s leader in sugar beet production, and the Irvine Ranch was a major contributor. Samuel Armor’s “History of Orange County, California” says Irvine had 2,300 acres of sugar beets in 1911. This acreage nearly doubled the following year.
James H. Irvine and partners formed The Santa Ana Sugar Co-Operative in order to process their sugar beet crop. Irvine provided the land and much of the money to build the factory at 1301 E. Dyer Road. The street was named to honor Ebenezer H. Dyer (1822-1906) who had built the first successful sugar beet factory in California and was considered to be the “Father of the American Sugar Beet Industry.”
The company name was changed to The Santa Ana Sugar Company in 1916. A year later, The Holly Sugar Company purchased 70 percent of the stock for $2,250,000. The remaining 30 percent was held by James Irvine and was valued at approximately 41 million.
The once booming sugar beet industry declined sharply in the 1920s, and by 1926, the Holly Sugar Plant on Dyer Road was the last remaining sugar refinery in Orange County. The iconic plant continued production however, even as the local sugar beet acreage dwindled. For years, the Holly Sugar Plant was a local landmark. Its signature, “burnt sugar” smell is still a common sensory memory for many longtime residents.
Pulley notes that the last sugar beets grown in Orange County were harvested in 1973. They were grown on Irvine Ranch property, which was leased by Joseph Changala, the last beet rancher in the county. With sugar beet profits declining, the Holly Sugar Plant nearly closed its doors. Instead, the plant was retooled in 1979 and began to process raw cane sugar.
Faced with continued losses, Holly finally closed the Santa Ana facility for good in January of 1982. In August of 1983 the factory was razed despite the attempts of local preservation groups to prevent the demolition of the historic building.