The 2006 Periscope - In The Beginning... The Story of Dates

The date palm is the signature tree of the Coachella Valley. Not only are the beautiful commercial date gardens unique, but almost every residential and business development uses them for landscaping. The fruit has been an important part of the agricultural production of the valley and in the past, dozens of "date shops" were a tourist attraction. In 2006, few of those retail shops are left, but the trees remain, furnishing fruit for the wholesale market, and tall trees for the golf course, condominium, shopping center, and housing developments. Coachella Valley Historical Society, 2006, 40 pages, paperback