Marshall strawberries once thrived on Bainbridge Island, celebrated for their intensely sweet flavor and delicate texture. At one point, they were so highly regarded that Queen Elizabeth II reportedly requested them during a visit to Victoria, underscoring their international prestige. These berries were primarily cultivated by Japanese-American farmers, who had settled on the island in the early 20th century and played a central role in turning Bainbridge into a leading center for strawberry production.

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     The Marshall strawberry’s decline, however, began even before World War II. The variety was highly susceptible to viral plant diseases, which spread rapidly through strawberry fields in the 1940s and 1950s. Because Marshall strawberries were delicate and difficult to cultivate, they struggled against newer disease-resistant commercial varieties that were easier to ship and grow on a large scale. As disease pressures increased, many growers were forced to abandon the Marshall berry despite its exceptional flavor.

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     This agricultural crisis was compounded during World War II, when Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated under Executive Order 9066. Bainbridge Island was the first Japanese-American community to be incarcerated. This mass displacement not only disrupted families and communities but also dismantled the farming infrastructure they had built over decades. The Filipino-American farming community played a vital role in maintaining many of the farms while Japanese-American farmers were interned, helping preserve parts of the island’s agricultural economy during a period of profound upheaval. Even so, many Japanese-American farmers never returned to their land, and without their expertise, stewardship, and generational knowledge, Marshall strawberry production declined rapidly.

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     The near disappearance of the Marshall strawberry is therefore more than the story of a lost crop. It reflects the combined impact of plant disease, industrial agriculture, and systemic injustice, forces that together erased much of a rich cultural and agricultural legacy tied to Bainbridge Island’s farming communities.