Mark D Anderson is prominently identified with the fruit packing industry in Riverside County, where he is
secretary and manager of the Orange Heights Fruit Association, the modern packing house of which is
established at the intersection of Main Street and the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
at Corona.
The Orange Heights Fruit Association was organized in 1905, on October 7th of which year it was
incorporated with a capital stock of $25,000 and with the following named officers: F. F. Thompson,
president; L. A. Fink, secretary; and the First National Bank of Corona as treasurer. The new corporation
purchased the packing house of the Faye Fruit Company, and promptly proceeded with the rebuilding and
remodeling of the plant. On the 31st of August, 1914, the capital stock was increased to $50,000, and the
following officers were elected: W. C. Barth, president; J. C. Read, secretary; Corona National Bank,
treasurer. The officers of the association at the opening of the year 1922 are as here noted: J. B. Cook,
president; L. A. Fink, vice president; Mark D. Anderson, secretary and manager ; Corona National Bank,
treasurer. The packing house gives an aggregate floor space of 193,500 square feet, the facilities are of
the most approved type, and at the plant employment is given to seventy five persons, while in the fields
during the fruit-packing season the association has an average of 150 employees. The association
handles fruit from 1,100 acres, its property investment represents fully $150,000 and its indebtedness is
only $8,000, so that its affairs are in a most prosperous condition and its influence large in connection with
the fruit industry in this section of the state.
Mark D. Anderson was born in Morgan County, Ohio, on the 1st of June, 1880, and is a son of Adelbert A.
and Mary Catherine (DeVoile) Anderson. Mr. Anderson was a child at the time of the family removal to
Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he attended the public schools. Later he attended the McConnelsville
Normal School at McConnelsville, Ohio, after which he read law in the office of Kinzies Porter of Zanesville,
that state. At Zanesville he finally became manager of the business of the F. E. Hemmer Company,
manufacturing confectioners and wholesale dealers in fruit and produce. Prior to taking up the study of law
he had given three years of successful service as a teacher in the public schools in Bourbon County,
Kentucky, and at Zanesville, Ohio. He continued his connection with F. E. Hemmer Company three years,
and thereafter was associated with the wholesale commission business in the City of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. In this connection he came to California in the capacity of purchasing agent. In 1904 he
here became associated with Arthur Gregory, who was then general manager of the Mutual Orange
Distributors at Redlands. Within a short time thereafter Mr. Anderson became manager of the Carlsbad
Guano & Fertilizer Company, in which connection he was in active service two years at Carlsbad, New
Mexico, his executive duties involving considerable travel in Mexico. Upon his return to California he
assumed the position of district manager of the Mutual Orange Distributors, and with this corporation he
continued his alliance, in various capacities, until 1919, when he became the incumbent of his present dual
office of secretary and manager of the Orange Heights Fruit Association.
Mr. Anderson is a valued member of the Corona Chamber of Commerce, is a director of the Queen Colony
Fruit Exchange, and the Exchange Orange Producers Company, is a republican in politics, and is a
member of the Corona Country Club.
In 1900 Mr. Anderson wedded Miss Myrtle O'Brannon, of McConnelsville, Ohio, and the two children of this
union, I. M. and Madeline, reside at Zanesville, Ohio. The present marriage of Mr. Anderson was
solemnized in January, 1917, when Miss Daisy Helen Moberly, of Wichita, Kansas, became his wife. They
have no children.