George E. Hyde
Cupertino orchardist and cannery owner, best known for his George E. Hyde & Company cannery in Campbell.
George E. Hyde was born in 1855 in California, was a machinist foreman for the California Rolling Mills in 187x, and was married and had his first son in 1880 according to the census. The family lived at 225 Shotwell Street out in the Mission District. "Campbell the Orchard City" said he moved to Benecia in 1882, then to Saratoga in 1886. In 1900, he was listed as an orchardist. He was also listed in the San Francisco Call 1900 list of delivery spots for California Cured Fruit Association on the "west side" of the Santa Clara Valley. Hyde was active in local boosterism; he shows up in San Francisco Call 1902 as part of improvement society trying to get railroad linking Cupertino to Mountain View, and represented San Jose Chamber of Commerce in visit to LA in 1903 according to December 17, 1903 San Francisco Call.
A 1906 city directory shows him as a manager at the Rosenberg Brothers plant in San Jose; he was manager when the Ryland Street plant burned on November 10,1906. A 1910 City Directory lists his residence as Prospect Road; in the same directory, George E. Hyde & Company was a fruit packer near the SP depot, managing with Ruel K. Thomas. (Thomas shows up as owner of Campbell Realty in 1911.)
Hyde also did land development, such as the Alice Ave housing and the industrial area on Dillon. Warren Hyde was George E. Hyde's younger brother.
Hyde died on June 27, 1933 after a long illness.
An article about great-grandson Jerry Hyde noted[1]
"In the early part of the 20th century, Hyde's great-grandfather George started the Sunnyside Ranch in Campbell, amassing hundreds of acres of apricots, prunes and peaches. By 1914, he had a cannery and drying yard to process his own fruit and others. The Southern Pacific Railroad track ran alongside, providing passengers, in season, with a captivating view of 25,000 fruit-drying trays."
"A progressive employer, Hyde built a cafeteria and social building for his workers and a day nursery and playground for their children. Hyde, the family historian, still has some of the vividly colored fruit labels and a panoramic picture of the cannery with employees in front."
"Like many others, the cannery business did not survive the Depression. Sunsweet, the growers association, owned it for some years. During the early 1960s, during Hyde's college years, the Santa Clara Valley began the transition out of agriculture that is virtually complete today. The former cannery now houses offices, but the original sign on the building remains."