Early Canning Processes
Historic Cannery Row
The Row’s first canning operation
In 1902 Otosaburo Noda, a Japanese immigrant farmer, labor contractor and businessman, moved his abalone canning operation at Point Lobos to the rocky shoreline of Monterey. Noda and his partner Harry Malpas built the Monterey Fishing and Canning Company. This venture was the first canning operation located on the world-famous “street of the sardine.”
The first major cannery
James A. Madison, Joseph A. Nichols and Bernard Senderman bought the failing Malpas Cannery in 1907. After a major renovation, it was renamed the Pacific Fish Company. Sardines were cut by hand, drained and fried in peanut oil, then packed in handmade oval cans and sealed with hand-soldered lids. By World War I, increased demand and large profits spurred the mechanization of Monterey’s canning industry. In 1926 the Pacific Fish Company was renamed the California Packing Corporation.
Crossovers
Empty cans were shuttled from warehouses on the inland side of Cannery Row to canneries on the bay side of the street. After the cans were filled and cooked, they were shuttled back over the street through enclosed crossovers to warehouses and rail sidings. The crossover became a distinctive architectural feature on Cannery Row.
Marker is on Cannery Row.
Courtesy hmdb.org
