In the 1890's D.K. Smalling traveled from Ohio and settled in the Yakima Valley.
He planted an orchard that included apples and pears. His daughter, Catherine, met Foster Douglas while attending the University of Washington.
Foster's father farmed a small orchard of apples he planted in the 1920's. When he died suddenly, Foster left college in his senior year to take over the farm. Foster and Catherine married the following year, and they expanded their farming operation over the next forty years to 150 acres adding cherries, peaches, and nectarines.
Foster's son, John, continued to farm this ground, as well as two other ranches in the Yakima Valley. In the late seventies John and his brother, Bill, invested in land in the Columbia Basin. Their partnership resulted in the purchase of land, where they planted apples, peaches, nectarines, pears and cherries. Douglas Fruit was founded in 1984.
The fourth generation entered the farming and packing business. John's daughters, Jill and Holly, hired the crews and managed the day-to-day operations. Bill managed warehouse interests, while John managed farming operations. Bill's sons, David and John, joined the family business in 1999. His son Pete joined the sales team in 2009.
Today, John & Bill’s children David, Jill, John and Peter continue on with the family heritage of operating Douglas Fruit’s warehouse and farming operations.