The San Joaquin Historian - San Joaquin County Historical Museum

The San Joaquin Historian cite CH ICORY
fACTORY
OF t?ACI-IMAN AND GRANDT
ON IllE SAN .joAQUIt-J
A Publication of the San Joaquin County
Historical Society and Museum
The San Joaquin Historian
A Publication ofthe San Joaquin County
Historical Society and Museum
Vol. XIV- Number 1
Editor
Daryl Morrison
Design
Karen Hope
Published by
The San Joaquin County
Historical Society, Inc.
Micke Grove Regional Park
P.O. Box 30, Lodi, CA 95241-0030
(209) 331-2055 * (209) 953-3460
President
Helen Tretheway
Vice Presidents
Craig Rasmussen
Immediate Past President
Mel Wingett
Finance
Christopher Engh
Publications
Elise Austin Forbes
Secretary
Robert F. McMaster
Treasurer
Director, San Joaquin
County Historical Society
Michael W. Bennett
Cover: Ralph Yardley cartoon Courtesy Haggin Musuem The San Joaquin Historian
Spring 2000
About This Issue
In this issue we learn the background of the
charming River Mill. The River Mill is a banquet
facility located in French Camp in an historic
building that was once the Bachman & Brandt
California ChicofJ/ FactofJ/. I became aware of
this establishment when I had a family event
there in 1993. The beautiful grounds and his­
toric old building can only make one wonder,
"What went on here r I began to do some
reading to learn about the California ChicofJ/
Works and the business partnership of Bachman
and Brandt. I presented my guests with a one­
page histofJ/ of the California ChicofJ/ Works. [I
also happened to have a few pounds of chicofJ/
coffee in my freezer from visits to New Orleans
and served my guests chicofJ/ coffee. For those
who are curious/ chicofJ/ coffee may be special
ordered from Aquarius Coffees in Lincoln Center,
Stockton or online from Cafe du Monde:
http://www.cafedumonde.com/cafeshop].
A recent quefJ/ by a reader as to whether there
was more information on the California ChicofJ/
Works made me realize this stOfJ/ would be
worth developing. So dear reader, grab a cup a
coffee (oiy you probably don't have chicofJ/ cof­
fee/ yet) and enjoy!
The author, Daryl Morrison, is Head of Holt­
Atherton Special Collections at the University of
the Pacific Library and editor of the San Joaquin
Historian.
Page 1
Bachman & Brandt California Chicory Factory By Daryl Morrison
The old California Chicory Factory
founded in 1873 was owned by Charles
H.W. Brandt and Carl August Bachman
(often spelled Bachmann). The factory
still exists today as a large, red brick
building and is now called The River Mill.
beautiful facility, few may know of its
interesting historical background. On
August 8, 1980, the Historical Resources
Commission made the site a California
landmark based on its being the largest
and oldest standing chicory processing
plant of its time. The structure was built
to last with foot-thick walls towering
over 20 feet high. The redbrick build­
ing's design is a rectangular box of
some 200-feet long by 100-feet wide. It
has plain straight walls with pilasters at
intervals for vertical reinforcement.
There are stepped parapets at the roof
edges. Details can be easily seen of the
Flemish bond used by the professional
masons of the day. (Dart, p. A8)
Chicory-A Beverage ofChoice
The facility is owned and was renovated
by Jim Silveria and Clint Marshall. It
operates as a banquet hall and winery in
the historic building with the embellish­
ment of a beautiful garden. To get to
the site head south from Stockton on
Interstate Five and at French Camp take
Matthews Road exit and drive along
Manthey Frontage road to Bowman
Road. Follow Bowman Road west until
you reach the San Joaquin River. The
old Brandt home may also be glimpsed
on nearby property.
The River Mill does a brisk business with
weddings and other special events. Al­
though many have enjoyed this
The San Joaquin Historian
Unless you have sipped chicory coffee
with your beignet (a fried puff pastry
rolled in powdered sugar) at Cate du
Monde on Jackson Square in New Or­
leans, you may be unfamiliar with this
savory, rich beverage. Chicory was
thought to aid digestion and regularity
and has been used for centuries in
Europe for medicinal purposes. Herbal­
ists as early as 1800 imagined its
curative properties. In the nineteenth
century chicory was in much demand
and after processing was used to blend
with coffee grounds. Chicory was used
especially during the Civil War, when
coffee was scarce. Later, it was popu-
Page 2
lar, not so much as an extender, but as
an enhancement. When kiln dried,
roasted, and ground, chicory becomes
coffee's natural partner, enhancing the
coffee's flavor and body.
Chicory (not to be confused with the
chicory weed, commonly found growing
on America's highways) is the root of
the endive plant. Chicory, or succory, is
a native plant of Great Britain, where it
grows wild and in great profusion but
was not cultivated to any extent. It was,
however, carefully cultivated in Belgium,
France, Holland, and Germany. There
many thousands of acres are devoted to
chicory and tons of the raw material
were exported to the United States.
Chicory belongs to the genus Chicorium
have little in common with coffee./I
(Stockton Daily Independent, Nov. 9,
1876). "It is not of the same nature as
coffee, and does not contain the slight­
est trace of coffee's essential oil or
caffeine. Its action on the system is the
opposite of coffee and instead of being
a stimulant and irritant, chicory is a
sedative tonic, diuretic and astringent./I
(Weekly Mail, June 4,1892) "Chicory is
mixed with coffee, at the average rate
of about one-half pound of root to one
pound of coffee. Consumers report that
it adds much to the flavor of coffee./I
(Stockton Daily Independent, Oct. 26,
1877). "Its addition to coffee in­
creases the bitterness but gives greater
body and a brighter color to the liquid.
When added to coffee to stretch it, it
Bin with dried chicory root and the ground product.
Courtesy of the Haggin Museum.
intybus, the same botanical family as
the dandelion. The shape of the leaves
of the plant look almost exactly like a
dandelion, but the leaves of the chicory
are much the larger, courser, and darker
colored. Endive is winter lettuce that
has a carrot-like root. It has the ap­
pearance of a parsnip root being white
in color and having a bitter flavor.
(Brandt, p. 28; Weekly Mail, 1892).
In newspaper articles of the day, chicory
was described as "not unpleasant to the
taste, although the chemical properties
The San Joaquin Historian
cuts down the caffeine for the drinker./I
(Weekly Mail, June 4, 1892)
Chicory as a San Joaquin County
Industry
With the popularity of the chicoried
brew, the knowledge of immigrating
Germans about the plant, and the rich
fertile soils of the San Joaquin River re­
gion, the door was open for a new
industry in San Joaquin County. The
domestic chicory had an advantage of
being more economical than the Ger-
Page 3
man import because of import taxes and
transportation.
In the 1870s there were large manufac­
turing establishments in Europe with
two hundred manufactories in Germany
alone. In this country chicory was
raised quite extensively on Long Island,
in New Jersey, and in some of the
Western States. The soil best adapted
was a sandy loam. (Stockton Daily In­
dependent, Oct. 26, 1877). When
chicory was introduced to California, it
was said to grow to enormous size
compared to the European product.
(Weekly Mail, June 4, 1892)
Of the minor crops that received sus­
tained attention in the Delta in the early
years, chicory was the most highly local­
ized. A small acreage was raised
downstream from Sacramento and
Washington (West Sacramento) be­
tween 1860 and 1880. Between 1872
and World War I a larger acreage was
raised on mineral soils on Roberts Is­
land. The southern crop area was
located within a few miles of a mill
(Bachman &
SAN Y)AOUI
Brandt) located on
the right bank of
the San Joaquin
about eight miles
southwest of
Stockton.
(Thompson, p.
371).
Chicory processing
had existed in the
general vicinity
before Brandt and
Bachman estab­
lished their
business. Raab, Meine and Co. had a
factory in 1871, but it burned in October
of the same year. (Stockton Daily Inde­
pendent Oct. 26, 1871). They again
prepared to establish a chicory
manufacturing operation on the San
The San Joaquin Historian
facturing operation on the San Joaquin
River in February of 1872, and had an
active operation by the summer of 1872
that lasted until around 1878. (Stockton
Daily Independent, Feb. 10, 1872; Sept.
21, 1872).
The Stockton Daily Independent of July
3, 1878 notes that "a new chicory fac­
tory has recently been built on Brandt's
ranch on the river, west of French Camp
and the old factory has been removed
to Martin Ott's place a mile or two fur­
ther up. From these active preparations
for business we judge that the industry
of making chicory is expanding and ex­
tending." (Also Horton, p. 17).
In the 1870s when all of the production
was to the east of the river, between
200 and 500 acres were harvested. In
1892 the San Joaquin County chicory
industry was considered the largest of
its kind in the United States. Then
known as the California Chicory Works,
it was located on the right bank of the
San Joaquin River about thirteen miles
Postcard, Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
from Stockton by water and eight and a
half miles by wagon road.
The area is described as "having natural
beauty and the most fertile land in the
country. Approximately several thou-
Page 4
sand acres of the land in the vicinity is
in chicory root, although the manufac­
turers themselves have only six hundred
and fifty." (The Weekly Mail, June 4,
1892). In the early 1900's up to 1,200
acres were harvested. Cultivation virtu­
ally stopped before World War I, the
result of a disappearing market among
the San Francisco coffee roasters, for­
eign competition, and the 1911 flood.
Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it.
(Thompson, pp.371-372).
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory
Factory is the story of two men, Charles
H. W. Brandt and Carl August Bachman,
both old pioneers who made their for­
tunes by their own efforts and by
availing themselves of the natural ad­
vantages of California. "They worked at
many different kinds of business before
starting the manufacture of chicory in
1872. In that year the beginning was a
modest one and early on all the work
was done in one small frame structure.
Both liked the country and were deter­
mined to succeed and make homes for
themselves. It was hard work, but each
year saw some addition to their property
and the farmers in the area began to
also cultivate the root, so that by 1892
nearly 300 were reported to putting in a
large part of the year at that work and
finding it profitable." (Weekly Mail, June
4, 1892)
Charles H. W. Brandt
Charles H. W. Brandt, the founder of the
California Chicory Works, was born in
Hanover, Germany in 1840. He was the
son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt.
By the time Charles was fifteen years of
age he began to chafe under the re­
straints in his native country and set out
for America. Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles H.W. Brandt
of Bremen in 1855, he reached Galves­
ton, Texas after a comparatively
uneventful voyage of three months and
nine days. He settled in Washington
County, Texas where he learned the
trade of carpenter and worked at that
trade until 1859. He then went to
Cherokee, New Grenada, where he be­
came involved in the butchering trade.
He traveled in Central and South Amer­
ica, and after two years returned to the
United States, arriving in San Francisco
in 1861. He then worked as a cabinet­
maker for three years. Brandt came to
San Joaquin County in 1864, saved his
money and acquired land on the banks
of the San Joaquin River near the set­
tlement of French Camp in Castoria
Township. He engaged in the fruit and
vegetable business. (Gilbert, p. 103;
Guinn, p. 206-Note: Guinn has Brandt
coming to the County in 1862).
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres
and continued to add to it. For the next
few years Brandt raised row-crops on
his small farm. He tested different
crops to see which would bring the most
Page 5
money. He was familiar with chicory,
which was imported fully processed
from Germany. There was little domes­
tic chicory. Brandt recognized that the
mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land
was ideal for the growing of chicory and
the long growing season promised good
crops. (Dart, p. A8).
In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half
story house with thirteen rooms, costing
$2,500. At about this time he married
Therese Bachman, the daughter of his
neighbor, Carl Bachman. They married
in French Camp on September 18, 1870.
Therese was also a native German, born
in May 15, 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Brandt
were to become the parents of nine
children (Charles A., Frederick c., Au­
gustus W., Louis, Emil A., Theresa,
Dorothy, Mildred and Oscar). (Guinn,
p.206).
to $10 per ton. Brandt decided to begin
processing the chicory root himself into
a near finished product. (Dart, p. A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at
a cost of $3,700. Brandt's factory was a
wood frame structure to house the ma­
chinery for the operation. To the north
side of the factory he had wooden dry­
ing platforms, where the white, carrot­
like roots were cut into two-to-three
pieces and crushed in the grinders. The
root cubes were ground to about the
consistency of course ground coffee.
There was a landing on the San Joaquin
River about twenty-five feet from the
factory. (Gilbert, p. 103). The following
year the factory shipped 328 barrels of
processed chicory. The chicory was
shipped to market on the steamer Hattie
Pickett.
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his atten­
tion upon the raising and manufacture
of chicory for commercial uses, begin­
ning at first in an experimental way.
After the first few years, the harvest
yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was
sold to San Francisco processors for $8
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Mar­
tin Ott as manager and August and
Charles Dangers as employees. (Stock­
ton Daily Independent, Feb. 12, 1877).
Brandt sold his original building in 1877
to Ott and became partners with is fa­
ther-in-Iaw, C.A. Bachman. They
Chicory Factory, near Stockton, California. The large building is the roasting and grinding building, with storage
buildings for the raw product behind. CA. 1888. Courtesy of the Haggin Museum.
The San Joaquin Historian
Page 6
erected a larger building, 50 x 48 feet,
at a cost of $7,500. On September 16,
1878, they celebrated the opening of
this second chicory factory with 125
friends and well wishers present. (Daily
Evening Herald, Sept. 16, 1878).
With the establishment of the partner­
ship and building of the larger factory,
the firm became Bachman & Brandt's
California Chicory Factory and the busi­
ness grew expansively. In 1909 Guinn
noted that "the factory is located eight
miles from Stockton, on the San Joaquin
River at Brandt's Bridge, which was
named in honor of Mr. Brandt. In addi­
tion to carrying on the manufacturing
business, Brandt owns three ranches
upon which he carries on general stock­
raising and other agricultural purSUits."
(Guinn, p. 206).
Carl August Bachman
The story of the older partner, Carl Au­
gust Bachman (or Bachmann), is similar
to Brandt's. He was born in Prussia in
1827. His parents were Henry and
Teresa (Kunz) Bachman. Bachman re­
ceived his education in his native town
of Magdeburg, and after completing an
apprenticeship worked in the upholster­
ing trade. He traveled throughout
Europe. He then entered the military
service, joining the Twelfth Hussar Regi­
ment, and took part in the wars of
Baden and Holstein. Bachman married
Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany. Leav­
ing the army in 1853, Bachman
immigrated to New York, then going to
St. Anthonls Falls, Minnesota, where he
established a furniture factory. In 1859
he gave up his business and embarked
on a steamer for California, crossing the
Isthmus. He arrived in San Francisco on
the 24th of October 1859. He remained
in San Francisco until the spring of
1860, when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner. He was unsuccessful and re­
turned to San Francisco, where he
obtained employment in a carpet store.
In 1866 he and his family came to San
Joaquin County and purchased a ranch
of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River
and commenced farming. Having some
knowledge of the chicory business, a
crop grown in Prussia, he thought chic­
ory would prove profitable. He
cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were
chicory and the rest grain. He had 500
trees of apples, peaches and pears, and
25 head of horses and some milk cows.
The Bachmans erected a residence in
1866 on the San Joaquin River, just be­
low that of Mr. Brandt's. The house was
added on to and in 1879 was described
as being two stories with nine rooms.
(Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin
County, p. 525; Gilbert, p. 102). The
Bachmans had one daughter, Theresa.
The union of Brandt and Theresa Bach­
man brought the families together not
only as relatives but partners.
A New Factory and Prosperous
Partnership
When the two men joined together the
chicory factory prospered and the proc­
essed tonnage increased greatly. The
Daily Evening Herald, Stockton, Sep­
tember 16, 1878 noted that Bachman &
Brandt celebrated the opening of their
chicory factory. "The buildings are new
and substantial. A 15 horsepower en­
gine furnishes the power. The capacity
of the factory is twelve tons a day and it
ranks as one of the largest in the State.
The chicory is sold in San Francisco at
about 6 cents per pound. It comes into
competition with German chicory, which
is sold at about 7 1/2 cents per pound
and is said to be superior in quality to
the German chicory." The new brick
building housed the roasting room,
grinding room, drying room, a cooper-
Page 7
age, a tank house, engine room, coal
storage house, and a storage ware­
house. (Dart, p. A8)
It was reported that little chicory was
then grown outside of San Joaquin and
Sacramento Counties. It cost about $5
a ton to raise the roots, including seed,
cultivation, digging and hauling, while
the prepared chicory was worth from
$125 to $250 a ton in the market. The
net profit per acre was as high as $300
to $500. (Stockton Daily Independent,
Feb. 12, 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two
tons per ten hour run during the season.
(Gilbert). The processed product was
sold in San Francisco at six cents per
pound to manufacturers of coffee. The
average yield per acre was from ten to
twelve tons. Bachman and Brandt
planned at that time to expand their op­
erations by the cultivation of between
three and four hundred acres. (Daily
Evening Herald, Sept. 16, 1878).
barrels of processed chicory. The fac­
tory processed about 600 acres of
planted chicory, 300 of which was
planted by Bachman & Brandt. (Daily
Independent, August 18, 1883.)
In 1884 Mr. Bachman was in Europe
and while there selected improved ma­
chinery for his factory. (Illustrated
History ofSan Joaquin County, p. 525).
Bachman & Brandt continued profitably
and in 1885 a new factory was built.
This factory was made out of molded
and wirecut biick purchased from local
brick factories. It had iron doors and
iron window bars and is the building
that still stands in good condition today.
Fourteen men were employed at the
factory and the capacity was five tons a
day of processed chicory. The average
output was five hundred tons a year.
In 1890 they had the largest chicory
factory in the United States, with a
trade extending through the Pacific
Coast and Central States. In 1889 they
harvested 6,000
tons of roots,
By 1883
producing one­
Bachman
that
fourth
& Brandt
weight of the fin­
was de­
ished product
scribed as
ready for market.
the only
(Illustrated His­
operating
tory ofSan
chicory
Joaquin County,
factory in
p. 525). By 1900
the State
the California
of Cali­
Chicory Works
fornia.
was
a flourishing
Until this
business center
time most
in which seven­
of the
teen men were
profit had
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms
employed.
gone into
factory. Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum.
(Guinn, p. 205).
mac~lin­
Charles Brandt was the superintendent
ery, but from 1883 on their investments
of the factory operations, while C.A.
began to pay. The chicory factory was
expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Page 8
I-\ARVESTlf.,\6 CHICORY ON \U:C!AIMED
U\NO .souT\-\ V\IE5T OF
,,:>TOCKTO"'l AC>OUT IB}l5"
Bachman was the business manager and sales man­
ager. (Gilbert! p.280). The Agricultural
and Manufactur­
ingProcess
The manufacturing
of the chicory root
Yardley Cartoon, Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively
woody and would be killed altogether.
This was very arduous labor. Brandt
simple process and done entirely withnotes that "The help employed were
out the use of chemicals. The buildings
Japanese! Chinese! and Hindus. [Sikhs].
and machinery used for the manufacturThe Italians worked their own fields. It
ing was quite extensive and represented
a large amount of capital. Everything
is estimated that one man must be employed for every one and a half acres.
about the ranch and grounds was described as being in perfect order.
The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled aver­
aged
about two or three pounds.
Planting
The tops often obtained a growth of
several feet in height. (Brandt and
In a pamphlet San Joaquin County, For
Weekly Ma/~ June 4! 1892).
the Farmer, F.e. Brandt, Brandt's son,
II
reported on chicory. Chicory seed was
imported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound. Before planting the land was
put into sub-irrigation. He notes! "Chic­
ory will grow in about the same type of
soil, as that required for sugar beets. A
sandy loam is best. It must be soil that
will not bake. After the seed sprouts,
the plants are
thinned. 1I
Harvesting
Harvesting began in August and contin­
ued through October. A specially
designed plow was used to stir the soil
and pull the roots from the ground. The
roots could then be picked up or pulled
"by the Chinese laborers.1I The plant
tops were
cut off and
the roots
thrown in
heaps.
(Stockton
Daily Inde­
The seed was
very fine and
was drilled in
like onion seed,
in rows about
twelve inches
apart. It was
planted in Feb­
ruary or March.
Weeds were
Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots.
Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum.
kept out by
cultivation or the plants would become
The San Joaquin Historian
penden~
Nov. 9,
1876;
Feb.12,
1877!
Weekly
Mail, June
4, 1892; Brandt).
Page 9
Cutting, Roasting, and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the fac­
tory or mill, where they were taken to
the cutting machine and chopped into
pieces about an inch square and spread
thinly over a large wooden platform for
sun-drying. The drying usually took
from three to five days. The roots when
dry very closely resembled pieces of
bone. On different sides of the platform
were storehouses for the unroasted
root. The dried roots were sometimes
stored away until demanded by the
trade.
The principal building erected in 1885
was where the roasting and grinding
was done. It was two stories high,
about 100 feet long and built of brick.
The lower floor contained the furnaces
and the upper floor was where the
grinding took place. The new drying kiln
or roasting furnace was one of the finest
in the country. (With the new kiln, sun
drying was probably minimized). Damp­
ers and flues made it possible to
regulate the heat.
Roasting required great care, as the end
product could be ruined. The roasting
temperature must just reach a certain
point; a little above or below would ruin
the root. The roasting was done in a
furnace containing three hollow drums,
which kept revolving by steam power
using a coke fire. The drums were ar­
ranged on a shaft that could be drawn
from the furnace for the purpose of fill­
ing or emptying. Each drum was
capable of containing 200 pounds of the
dried root, which after roasting lost
about a quarter of its weight. Green root
placed in the kiln was ready for the
grinders in nine hours.
When the root came from the roaster, it
was spread on the floor of the roasting
room, afterwards it was taken to the
floor above to the grinders and bolters,
which worked similarly to the manufac­
turing of flour. The roots were put
through a mill and ground to a course
powder like ground coffee. One of the
grinders was a very expensive machine
imported from Germany. To protect the
rollers from any foreign metallic sub­
stance falling in, the root made a pass
over a series of magnetic plates.
The product was now practically fin­
ished, as far as the flavor was
concerned, but it was an unpleasing
color of yellowish brown. Through a
"secret process of the manufacturer" it
was changed to a rich chocolate color.
The root was now ready for the con­
sumer.
In 1892 an average of fourteen men
was employed and the works had a ca­
pacity of five tons of the finished article
a day. The average output of the works
was about 500 tons a year. In the
process of drying and roasting, the chic­
ory lost about one-third of its weight, so
that ten pounds of the roots would yield
about three pounds of chicory. (Manu­
facturing process described in Stockton
Daily Independent, Feb. 12, 1877;
Weekly Mail, June 4, 1892; and Brandt).
TIlE RO.tSTIsa FUR.'UC1:.
The San Joaquin Historian
Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was
shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels
to the wholesale dealer, who put it into
packaging and shipped it to all parts of
the world. (Stockton Daily Independent,
Nov. 9,1876; Weekly Mail, June 4, 1892).
In 1882 the partners purchased a steam
launch named The Dora. (The steamer
was built in Stockton with the exception
of the boiler. The boat had a speed of
about sixteen miles an hour.) The Dora
carried the product from the factory to
Stockton and San Francisco. Transport­
ing by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton
was a full day's trip. (Weekly Mail, June
4, 1892, Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr. Bachman on No­
vember 18,1903, the business was
carried on under the sole name of
Brandt's California Chicory Factory. Mrs.
Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died
July 28, 1904. (Guinn, p. 206; Irvine,
vol. II, p. 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the
Food and Drug Act, which prohibited the
mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold
under the name of coffee, even if called
a coffee blend. Chicory had to be pack­
aged separately and sold as chicory,
since coffee couldn't be adulterated with
anything other than another type of cof­
fee. (Dart)
When Brandt's son, Frederick C. Brandt,
wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory, Castoria Township, 1879.
The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed
doom for the domestic chicory when
imported raw material ceased to be
taxed. Importers now brought in sliced,
dried, and unroasted chicory as raw ma­
terial, which any coffee processor could
finish off by roasting and grinding.
The San Joaquin Historian
dustry, there were about five such
concerns in the United States. F. C.
Brandt reported that "The land planted
to chicory was flooded two years in suc­
cession and the growers became
discouraged, so that for the last three
years, no chicory has been produced.
Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by
Brandt's factory, which contracts with
Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much
per ton." (Brandt)
10, 1924. (Stockton Evening Record,
Dec. 11, 1924).
Brandt de­
scribed the
market for
chicory "as
very limited
and easily
flooded and it
is only safe to
plant a small
acreage.
About one
thousand acres
will supply the
Pacific Coast
demand." He
stated that "It
is probable that
The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls.
the chicory fac­
Susan Platt-Case, photographer:- Signature Photography.
tory located
here will begin to manufacture the
Although the factory building was never
product again and thus encourage the
used again for chicory processing, it has
planting of a limited area." (Brandt)
not been abandoned all the time. Until
shut down by revenue agents, the fac­
At the time the price paid the grower for
tory was used for the production of
the green chicory roots was "usually $10
illegal alcohol during Prohibition. During
to $12 per ton at the factory. The yield
World War II, Sharpe Army Depot used
was from fifteen to twenty tons per
it to store groceries. For a time a flea
acre. The cost of production including
market was held in the building. (Dart)
the delivery of the crop to the factory
Restored and renovated, it now oper­
was always figured at $50 per acre, al­
ates successfully as The River Mill with a
though it might be a little greater or less
special ambiance that hearkens back to
according to the yield. The rental for
the days of the Bachman & Brandt Cali­
fornia Chicory Factory.
the land was usually about $15 per acre.
If the grower received fifteen tons to
the acre and sold at $10 per ton, he got
$150 per acre and his costs were about
$70 per acre, leaving a profit of $80 per
acre." (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods
Brandt's California Chicory Works quit
business. Charles Brandt was seventy­
two in 1911 and probably had retired.
Charles Brandt resided on Union Island
at the time of his death on December
The San Joaquin Historian
Page 12
The River Mill
Susan Platt-case, photographet; Signature Photography.
The San Joaquin Historian
Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt, F.C, "Chicory" in San Joaquin
County California/ For the Farmer. n.d.,
p.28-29.
Dart, Bill, "Landmark, Chicory Factory
Historical Site" in The Manteca News,
Wednesday, October 8, 1980, p. A8
Gilbert, F.T., History ofSan Joaquin
County, Oakland, Cal.: Thompson and
West, 1879, (Reproduction of Thompson
and Wests History ofSan Joaquin
County, California. Berkeley, California:
Howell-North Books, 1968). p. 280
Guinn, J.M., and George H. Tinkham.
History of the State of California and
Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin
County. Vol. II. Los Angeles, CA: His­
toric Record Co., 1909.
Horton, Earl A. Doug, French Camp/
Land of the Beaver. History Thesis.
Stockton: University of the Pacific, 1978.
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin
County, California, Chicago: The Lewis
Publishing Co., 1890.
Irvine, Leigh H., A History ofthe New
California/ Its Resources and People.
Vol. II. New York: The Lewis Pub. Co.,
1905.
[Student Paper, author and title un­
known] (excerpt in River Mill file).
Thompson, John., Settlement Geogra­
phy of the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta/ California. Ph.D. Dissertation,
Geography. Stanford, University, 1957.
The San Joaquin Historian
Stockton Newspaper Articles
(listed chronologically)
"Chicory Factory Destroyed" Stockton
Daily Independent, October 9, 1871, p.
3, col.1.
"A Chicory Manufactory" Stockton Daily
Independent, Feb. 10, 1872, p. 3, col.1.
"The Chicory Factory" Stockton Daily
Independent, Sept. 21, 1872, p. 3,
col. 1.
"Chiccory [sic] Factory" Stockton Daily
Independent, Jan. 31, 1873, p.3, col.1.
"Chiccory" Stockton Daily Independent,
Nov. 9, 1876, p. 3, col.2.
"Chiccory Culture" Stockton Daily Inde­
pendent, February 12, 1877, p. 3, col. 1.
"Chiccory" Stockton DaIlY Independent,
Oct. 26, 1877, p. 3, col.3.
"Chiccory Factory" Stockton Daily Inde­
pendent, July 3, 1878, p. 3, col.2.
"The Chiccory Factory" Daily Evening
Herald, Stockton, Ca., Sept. 16, 1878, p.
3, col.2.
"The Chiccory Industry" Daily Evening
Herald, Dec. 5, 1878, p. 3, col.1.
"Chiccory Factory, San Joaquin County
Boasts of the Only-One in the State"
Daily Independent (Stockton, Ca.), Au­
gust 18, 1883, p.3, col.3.
"The Chicory Factory, the County has
the Largest One in America" The Weekly
Mail(Stockton, Ca.), June 4, 1892, p. 8,
no.2.
"Death of Carl August Bachmann"
Stockton Daily Independent, Nov. 19,
1903, p. 3, col.1.
"Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest" Stock­
ton Evening Record, December 11,
1924, section 2, p. 19.
Gilbert, F.T. History ofSan Joaquin
County, Oakland, Cal.: Thompson and
West, 1879, (Reproduction of Thompson
and Wests History ofSan Joaquin
County, California. Berkeley, California:
Howell-North Books, 1968). p. 280
Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23, 2000 CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER Honoring "ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT" Address correction requested
San Joaquin County
Historical Society and Museum
P.O. Box 30
Lodi, CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization POSTAGE
PAID
Penn it No. 48 Lodi, CA 95241