From: Dr. Chaim Shiber
In the beginning, it was desolate - without trees, without settlements, without roads. The entire surrounding area was devoid of any Jewish settlement. The nearest Jewish community was Kfar Saba. Even Arab villages were few and far between. As early as 1928 (Hebrew year 5688), the Jewish Colonization Association began acquiring vast tracts of land in the region. This period marked the heyday of citrus cultivation in the lowlands and Sharon region, and the area’s red sandy soil (hamra) proved highly suitable for citrus orchards.
It was then that Sir Alfred Mond (later Lord Melchett), influenced by Professor Chaim Weizmann, joined the effort of building the Land of Israel.
In 1929 (Hebrew year 5689), under the leadership of Sir Alfred Mond, the Palestine Plantations Company (Chevrat Mataei Eretz Yisrael) was established with the goal of acquiring the entire expanse of land between the villages of the Triangle and the Mediterranean coast, and planting citrus groves across it. The first parcels of land were purchased by the company, and in July of that year, giant plows (“Fowlers”) were brought in to prepare the soil for planting. However, soon after the work began, the 1929 riots broke out (the Events of 5689), and land preparation came to a temporary halt. Work resumed once things calmed down.
When operations resumed, the first camp of wooden huts was set up on a hill in the center of the area. This became known as Tel Mond Camp, the first settlement in the entire area, named after the founder of the company and initiator of settlement in the northern Sharon. A two-story building was erected to house the company’s offices and a large workers’ kitchen, which also served as a clubhouse and gathering hall. Slowly, the temporary encampment began to take on the shape of a settlement.
The Ziv family from England joined the Palestine Plantations Company, and with their generous support, the company was able to expand its orchards. Between 1930 and 1934, a total of 2,160 dunams of citrus groves were planted. Most of the parcels were sold to Jews abroad, with a minority sold to residents of the country. The owners of these groves, however, for the most part, did not come to settle on the land. Only a few did, and the orchards were cultivated by the company using hired labor.
The Palestine Plantations Company began to develop a central point near the water reservoir. It relocated its offices and warehouses there and built housing for its workers on company land. Twenty homes were built for its clerks, with two dunams of auxiliary farmland allocated to each house. This was the beginning of the Clerks’ Neighborhood in Tel Mond, established in 1931.
This initiative inspired the Agricultural Center, led by Avraham Herzfeld, to link the fate of several agricultural worker organizations with the enterprise of the Palestine Plantations Company. This would enable them to achieve the long-desired goal of settling the land, even with their limited means, by working as hired hands in the company’s groves. Three agricultural labor organizations were designated for settlement in the Tel Mond bloc:
1. The Yizrael Organization from Kfar Yehezkel
2. The Herut Organization from Kfar Saba
3. The Tel Aviv Agricultural Organization
Despite their limited resources, members of these organizations contributed what little they had toward land acquisition. Each member deposited 20 Palestine Pounds with the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Additional support came from the Hityashvut HaElef (Settlement of the Thousand) company and other organizations, such as Nir and Batei HaKfar (“Village Homes”).
(Adapted from “They Walked” and reprinted in Our Hefer Valley – Tel Mond Bloc, Hefer Valley Regional Council, 1972)