Graber Olive House keeps Ontario's farm roots close

Ontario has a big airport, wide streets, warehouses, shopping, and fast Inland Empire growth. Graber Olive House points back to an older Ontario, when the Model Colony was still tied to farm lots, water, citrus, and careful land planning.

The Graber story began with one of those early 10-acre agricultural lots. Clifford C. Graber and Charles Graber bought the property in the 1890s. Clifford tried curing olives while the young citrus trees were still getting established. By 1894, the olive recipe had become popular enough that he started the Graber Olive House Company from his barn.

That is a small beginning for a place that became one of Ontario’s best-known old businesses. The property predates the later College Park neighborhood around it, and Ontario later recognized it as part of local historic districts. The site is a living clue that this city was not always about freeways and freight.

The best part is how ordinary the origin feels. A young farming family worked a Model Colony lot, tried a crop, found a recipe people liked, and kept building from there. For Ontario, Graber Olive House makes the agricultural story visible in a city that has changed a lot around it.