In the City of Winchester, the Virginia Apple Storage Warehouse holds a significant place in the history of the local apple industry in the Shenandoah Valley, a region that has been recognized as an ideal environment for apple cultivation since the colonial period. By the early 20th century, a combination of capital investment and Winchester’s role as a regional rail hub spurred the rapid growth of the Valley’s apple industry. Constructed in 1929 by Virginia Apple Storage, Inc., the Virginia Apple Storage Warehouse was one of four major cold storage businesses in Winchester during the early-20th century and was constructed using state-of-the-art refrigeration technology developed at the turn of that century. Although originally there were additional detached packing buildings, employee cottages, and other small ancillary buildings, at the time of listing in the registers there were two extant buildings within the complex: the 1929 warehouse building (pictured above), with its mid-20th century Art Moderne-influenced office annex; and a smaller controlled-atmosphere building, constructed in 1971.