[2] By the 1870s, the community had acquired the "Fruitvale" name,[3] reflecting its role as a shipping point for a large quantity of fruits and vegetables.

"Ollie" and Oscar Boyd established a grocery business in Fruitvale in 1906 and expanded their commercial interests in the subsequent years, adding the J.O.

During the 1920s Ollie Boyd, who also served as Fruitvale's postmaster, started a barber shop and built a potato barn and a pea/fertilizer shed.

He made extensive land purchases, eventually accumulating 1,200 acres (490 ha) of farmland on which he produced a variety of crops and raised hogs, sheep, and cattle.

[2] In the late 1930s, electricity became available in Fruitvale, and Ollie Boyd built an electric-powered corn crusher to produce feed for beef cattle and hogs, as well as a tractor shed.

In the years after World War II, Fruitvale lost population and agricultural shipping activity decreased.

It includes about 1.95 acres (0.79 ha) of land and nine buildings (two stores, the blacksmith shop, a bunkhouse, two sheds, a barn, the barbershop/office, the crusher house and the crop scale).