It All Began with Sugar Beets

A photo walk through the small California town of Spreckels

Abandoned Volunteer Fire Department building in Spreckels with old sugar factory and new lettuce fields in the background. © Barbara Radisavljevic

The old factory and new fields

If the first thing you think of when you see the word “Spreckels” is sugar, you’d be correct. The tiny town of Spreckels, California started as a factory town. It occupies an area of only 0.122 square miles and was built to house those who…