Among the well-known residents of Brockton square in Riverside is the above mentioned gentleman. He is the owner of twelve acres of land located on the east side of Bandini Avenue, about two and a half miles south of the business center of Riverside. This land was purchased by him in 1876 and its improvement and cultivation carried on by his direction until March, 1881, when he established his residence upon it. The first planting of trees was largely of deciduous fruits, but he has in later years caused most of those to be removed and replaced by citrus fruits. He has three acres of old trees that are in good bearing; the balance of his land, except about two acres in vineyard, is in budded trees, of the Washington Navel and Mediterranean Sweet varieties. Since 1881 Mr. Packard has personally attended to the care and cultivation of his orchards, and has also been engaged in the nursery business, furnishing some of the most approved nursery stock in the valley. He is a successful horticulturist, and is rapidly building up one of the representative orange groves of his section.
Mr. Packard is a native of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, dating his birth in 1850. His father, Lewis Packard, was a boot and shoemaker by trade, and as soon as his school days were over young Packard was put to work at that trade. He worked for many years in the shoe manufactories of Brockton, Massachusetts. In 1881 he decided to seek Riverside as a permanent residence, since which date he has devoted himself to horticulture. He is independent in politics, but is a strong supporter of all measures of public interest that will build up and improve the Riverside colony. The only family Mr. Packard has is his wife. She was formerly Miss Mary J. Dunbar, and is a native of Massachusetts.
