Tacoma Beer Factoid: Pierce County Hops

James E. & J.W. Feak owned a 41-acrea hop farm in Roy, Washington. The above photo shows man in suit and hat, sitting on a burlap sack, watching three workmen shovel dried hops into sacks and stack them at their hop barn in August of 1937.

In 1938, the Feaks sued Pierce County for more than $30,000, claiming that the county’s improvements on Lacamas Creek caused the creek to overflow and flood his croplands.

Hops were once a major crop in Pierce County, but weather, insects and downy mildew combined with fluctuating commodities prices to make hops farming a losing proposition in Western Washington.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory