California Packing Corporation

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Summary
Business

Cannery
Main Location

San Francisco
Aliases

Del Monte
Predecessors

Griffin and Skelley, Central California Canneries, J. K. Armsby, California Fruit Canners Association, Alaska Packers Association

The California Packing Corporation (also known by its primary brand, Del Monte or by the CalPak nickname) was a major canner and dried fruit processor founded in 1916. The company dominated the industry and California from its inception through the 1980's. The company still exists.

The company was the brainchild of J. K. Armsby, who merged five major canners to create a single large canning conglomerate. The founding companies were Griffin and Skelley, Central California Canneries, J. K. Armsby, California Fruit Canners Association, and the Alaska Packers Association. The company a huge range of products: canned fish from Alaska, pineapple from Hawaii, fruit from California, and vegetables from the midwest. Unlike the California Fruit Canners Association, which created a similarly large merged company in 1899, Del Monte treated the merged organizations as a single company, usually canning under the Del Monte name and not retaining the old names. This wasn't always true; there are stories of the San Leandro cannery still canning under the H.G. Prince label in the 1940's[1]. The unification of so many canneries under a single ownership worried the industry at the time[2].

Even after the founding, the company continued to buy other companies and expand its empire. Del Monte bought the Virden Packing cannery in Emeryville in 1927, bought H.G. Prince in Oakland and San Leandro around the same time.

Del Monte was also memorable because of the common building architecture used for many of its plants. Philip Bush designed many of the Del Monte plants with a similar modernist brick style, usually in one or two story arrangements. The warehouses in Alameda on the Oakland Estuary were built in 1925 and show Bush's typical design[3]. Many of the CalPak buildings survive, often repurposed. The Alameda buildings have been reused for industrial space[4], the San Jose dried fruit plant on Bush Street survives as condos, and various plants still can be seen in Oakland and Emeryville.

History comments that earnings in 1930 fell from $6/share to 9c, 1932 were worst losses ever.

San Leandro: See Arcadia book. Martinez and Saunders Street (1921 Western Canner and Packer Sacramento: See article on cannery Stella Adoa Baptista oral history on life in the canneries. Comment on Sunnyvale historical document suggests that some dried fruit receiving houses closed in 1926 as receiving was centralized at Plant 51 in San Jose. In 1920, had 61 plants, 53 in California, 4 in Oregon, 3 in Washington, and 1 in Idaho. Many 1920 references cited in March 1920 Canning Age in mention of customers of Main Belting Company, Philadelphia May 1921 Canning Age magazine summarizes the CalPak annual report. January 1923 Western Canner and Packer notes that pimientos are shipped from San Pedro or Santa Ana.

1963 corporate summary at University of Pennsylvania Dried fruit was 5% of their business in 1963, with three packing plants handling the fruit.


Kahului: Built 1926, sold to Maui Pineapple Company / Alexander and Baldwin in 1934.

Monterey plant was Monterey Fishing and Canning Company, started in 1902 by Harry Malpas and Otsaburo Noda. Became Pacific Fish Co in August 1908.

Santa Ana's Plant #20. First Street in foreground, and Southern Pacific Newport branch crossing image[5]

Merced: Largest cannery in the world being built to handle 1924 pack from company's great peach and apricot orchard" "Western Canner and Packer 1922 December 1922 Western Canner and Packer notes Del Monte is starting work on big cannery to handle pack of Planada-Tuttle orchard in 1924 season. Feb 1923 WC&P says it'll be largest cannery in world.


Locations

Location Plant Number Years Address Details
Alameda 1925, 1941 Buena Vista at Sherman Former Alaska Packing Corporation salmon cannery. aka Encinal Terminal. Became warehouse for consolidating output from different canneries for eastern shipment by 1968[6] Being repurposed for housing and retail[7]
Atwater 1922-1939 December 1922 Western Canner and Packer notes city helping buy lot along SP tracks for California Packing Corporation to expand the present cannery. "The cannery closed November 27 after packing 160,000 cases of peaches and 7,400 cases of sweet potatoes. Arcadia Publishing's Atwater book says Del Monte left in 1939. The plant had started as the Atwater Cannery, a cooperative, in 1905.
Berkeley 1941 2424 Fourth Street From Oakland City Directory, 1941. Former Sunlit Fruit Company[8].
Chico Plant #64 1919 Packing prunes and apricots in 1919.
Elmhurst Plant #58[9] 1944 Foot of 85th Street[10].
Emeryville Plant #35 1926-1989 1200 Park Avenue Former Western Canning. Now Pixar. Oral history with Stella Adoa Baptista describes working at the plant[11].
Emeryville Plant #7 1916-1941 40th and Halleck Packing peaches and pears in 1919. Had nursery school[12].
Fairfield (Suisun) Plant #60 1919, 1926 ??? Dried fruit[13]. Packing pears and apricots in 1919.
Franklin, Idaho Plant #130[14] 1944
Fresno Plant #15 1916- Packing peaches in 1919.
Fresno Plant #25 Cannery
Fresno Plant #66 1919 Packing apricots and peaches in 1919. (Dried?)
Fresno Plant #67 1919 Packing apricots and peaches in 1919. (Dried?)
Fresno Plant #68 / Plant #68A[15] Tulare St. at G St. Dried fruit. Former Pacific Coast Seeded Raisin Plant #5 and 6. Becoming site for California HSR station[16] Plant stretched along G Street from Mariposa to Kern St.[17].
Fruitvale Plant #37 1928- 3000 East 9th Street Now mall. Former H.G. Prince? Photo pg 394, Southern Pacific Freight Cars: Box Cars.
Hanford Plant #18 1916, 1922 Packing peaches and grapes in 1919.
Healdsburg Plant #56 1919 Packing prunes and pears in 1919.
Honolulu, Hawaii Plant #29 1919 Packing pineapple in 1919.
Kahului HI 1926-1934 120 Kane Street See HAER Survey
Kingsburg Plant #14 / Plant #25 1922-2012 1101 Marian Avenue Newspaper articles at time of closure said it had been open for 90 years[18].
Lewiston, Idaho Plant #28 1919 Packing tomatoes in 1919.
Los Angeles Plant #19 1916, 1921 Packing tomatoes, beets, and peaches in 1919.
Marysville 1921
Milpitas Plant #21 1920's Packing peas in 1920's[19]
Modesto 1969 - ~2000 4000 Yosemite Blvd "Catsup, tomato sauce, tomato juice"
Monterey 1926-1962 Sardine cannery.
Mt. Eden 1931 Mentioned in 1931 Hayward Directory.
Oakland Plant #6 1921, 1941 First and Myrtle Still exists. according to signs on photo by James Bunger and 1941 Oakland City Directory. Packing peaches and pears in 1919.
Oakland First and Myrtle St. Label printing plant. Building still exists, with "Label Printing Plant" sign cast in building face.
Oakland 1941, 1969[20] First and Filbert Street Former Oakland Preserving Company
Oakland 1941 742 Saunders
Oakland 1941 85th Ave Foot of 85th Ave
Oakland Plant #35 1969[21] 1250 Park Ave.
Oakland Plant #237 1969[22] 3100 E. 9th Street Part of Fruitvale cannery.
Oakland Plant #34 1941, 1969[23] (1941) 1100 29th Ave
Ogden, Utah Plant #132[24] 1944
Planada 1922 Highway 120 Mentioned as Merced.
Rio Vista Plant #22 1921,1922,1953 Former Rio Vista Canning and Packing Company[25].
Roseberry 1921
Sacramento 3rd and X Street
Sacramento 19th and R Street
Sacramento Plant #12 1922, 1938 1600 2nd Street Front and P Street[26][27].
Sacramento 1925 17th and C Street Now Blue Diamond.
Sacramento Plant #11 1916- "G Street" Packing peaches and pears in 1919.
Salem Plant #26 1916-1981[28] 1250 Mill St. SE] Former Oregon Packing Company, merged into Del Monte in 1916. In SP warehouse until 1935[29] 1922 Western Canner and Packers mentions canned prunes being shipped from this plant. Packing blackberries, string beans, and pears in 1919.
Salem Plant #126[30] 1944
San Francisco Plant #1 1907-1930's North Point Ave. Now the Cannery. In 1919, was packing pears, port and beans, and tomatoes. Plant either dates to before earthquake[31], built for M. J. Fontana and Company before the earthquake[32], or built on site of Selby smelter in 1907 for California Fruit Canners Association[33]. Closed in 1930's[34].
San Francisco Plant #2 1919 Listed in September 10, 1919 "Lug Box" newsletter as "Specialty", packing preserves, jelly, and catsup.
San Francisco 1920, 1921 101 California Street Headquarters.
San Jose Plant #52[35] 1919 Cinnabar Street Former Armsby plant[36].
San Jose Plant #3 1919 849 Auzerais St. Also listed as "West San Carlos Street" and "by the narrow gauge" in 1919[37] Former San Jose Fruit Packing plant.
San Jose Plant #51 1919[38], 1923, 1936, 1940, 1945, 1949 725 W. San Fernando Former Griffin and Skelley. Closed 1990, moved to Fresno) Grading and processing on 2nd floors along with bins, warehouse on first. Sulfur rooms in south end of building. (Where was plant #50?) (Also plant #54[39].
San Jose 1930 Montgomery Street at Cinnabar. Former Richmond Chase plant.
San Jose 1931 Lincoln Ave. Seen on 1931 siding list.
San Jose 1936, 1940 Auzerais and Meridian Road (pit cracker)
San Jose Plant #39 1919, 1936, 1940, 1945, 1972[40] 7th and Jackson Pickle Factory.
San Jose Plant #153 1936, 1940, 1945 Sunol and Auzerais St. By-products.
San Jose Plant #4 / Plant #34 1940, 1945, 1964 7th and Jackson Vinegar works. Location known as "Ruric" station on Southern Pacific

[41].

San Jose 1964 Monterey Road Seed farm.
San Jose 1964 734 The Alameda Sales office, fruit and vegetable purchasing office.
San Jose 1964 Hostetter Road Pit cracking department.
San Jose Seed Farm #185 before 1977[42] References exist to seed farm in Gilroy as plant #185 in recent years.
San Leandro Plant #27 1928 Thornton Avenue Formerly H.G. Prince according to 1928 Sanborn map, plant #27.
San Leandro Plant #8 1931 752 Saunders West of BART station, vacant as of 2005. 1899-1973. Cannery, dried fruit, agricultural research. Was a packing plant for dried fruit until moved to San Jose in...1960's?[43]. Packing peaches in 1919.
San Lorenzo Plant #9 1916- Opposite SP station. December 1922 Western Canner and Packer notes that the cannery will reopen early in 1923 to can spinach from 250 acres. Leonard Perillo superintendent. Packing peaches, pears, and grapes in 1919.
Sanger 1922 May 22, 1919 San Jose Evening News
Santa Ana Plant #20 1919, 1921, 1937, 1960's[44] Packing chili peppers in 1919. Supposedly former F. P. Cutting Company plant[45], abandoned by 1960's.
Santa Rosa Plant #5 1921 West 6th Street : Source for blackberries[46]. Packing peaches, blackberries, and pears in 1919. Cannery turned into 6th Street Playhouse. Cannery built 1894.
Smithfield, Utah Plant #138[47] 1944
Spanish Fork, Utah Plant #136[48] 1944
Star Ray, Utah Plant #34 1919 Packing tomatoes in 1919.
Stockton Plant #10 1975 2716 East Minor Filbert Street north of SP's Oakdale branch.[49][50][51].
Sunnyvale Plant #184 1904-1926, 1930-? 185 Evelyn photo]
The Dalles, Washington 1921
Toppenish, Washington Plant #122[52] 1944
Tulare 1922 ??? Did not operate in 1922[53].
Vancouver, WA Plant #27 1919 Packing preserves, pears, prunes, blackberries, and string beans in 1919.
Vancouver, Washington Plant #127[54] 1944
Visalia Plant #17 -1922 Burned down in 1922
Visalia Plant #16 1922 ??? October 1922 Western Canner and Packer.
Visalia 1922
Wahiawa, Hawaii Plant #30 1919 Packing pineapple in 1919. On Oahu.
Wasach, Utah Plant #32 1919 Packing tomatoes and catsup in 1919.
West Weber, Utah Plant #35 1919 Packing tomatoes in 1919.
Woodland -2000
Yakima, Washington Plant #125[55] 1944
Yuba City Plant #14 1916-1921, 1930 Packing peaches in 1919. Post card from 1930 shows low-slung buildings next to railroad track.

Photos

Del Monte Plant #21, Milpitas John C. Gordon Collection, San Jose State

CalPak (California Packing Corp. aka Del Monte) Plant 51 John C. Gordon Collection / San Jose Library

California Packing Corporation Plant No. 184 Sunnyvale Library

Del Monte Plant #3 Preservation San Jose

Water tower at Del Monte's Santa Rosa cannery. Via Sonoma County library.

Del Monte Warehouse, Alameda. From Flickr photos by MSClife.

Del Monte cannery, Salem Oregon. From Willamette Heritage Center via Statesmanjournal.com.

Plant #14, probably Kingsburg. California State Library, California History Room.

=References

  1. ↑ Personal communication, family member. My father remembers seeing H. G. Prince labels being used at the San Leandro Del Monte plant when he worked there in the late 1940's.
  2. ↑ $25,000,000 Merger of California Canneries: August 23, 1916 San Jose Evening News.
  3. ↑ Alameda Magazine.
  4. ↑ Plans
  5. ↑ Photo, First American Title Insurance. found by Bill Messecar, shown on Pacing Houses of Southern California website.
  6. ↑ Alameda was one of the major distribution centers in the late 1960's. William Braznell, California's Finest: The History of the Del Monte Corporation and the Del Monte Brand, 1982, Del Monte, p. 142
  7. ↑ From Waterfront Warehouse to Over 300 Homes As Proposed. East Bay section, Socketsite.com.
  8. ↑ Handbook of Manufacturers in and Around San Francisco, 1910, The Merchants Association of San Francisco.
  9. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  10. ↑ Fruit Buyers, Packers, and Shippers: [http://www.mocavo.com/Oakland-California-City-Directory-1937-Volume-Xliv/186980/1014 1937 Oakland City Directory.
  11. ↑ Stella Adoa Baptista, Recollections of Life in the Canneries. U.C. Berkeley Regional Oral History Office, 2004.
  12. ↑ Stella Adoa Baptista, Recollections of Life in the Canneries. U.C. Berkeley Regional Oral History Office, 2004.
  13. ↑ Frank Butterfield bio
  14. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  15. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  16. ↑ Karana Hattersley-Drayton, M.A., "Historic Property Survey Report for the Renaissance at Santa Clara Residential Development Project", Fresno.
  17. ↑ Fresno Chinatown map. From Japantown Atlas.
  18. ↑ Del Monte's Local Plant to Close, 1000 Jobs Lost. May 15, 2012 Kingsburg Recorder.
  19. ↑ Photo of Plant #21: John C. Gordon collection, San Jose State. Note sweet pea crates, pea vines, viners, and cans.
  20. ↑ 1969 Polk's City Directory. As 122 Filbert.
  21. ↑ 1969 Polk's City Directory. As 1250 Park Ave..
  22. ↑ 1969 Polk's City Directory. As 3100 E. 9th. St
  23. ↑ 1969 Polk's City Directory. As 1074 and 1100 29th Ave.
  24. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  25. ↑ June 1921 Canning Age: article on cannery
  26. ↑ May 1922 Western Canner and Packer Description of plant
  27. ↑ Western Pacific training manual - Sacramento Yard, R Street line. Map in Jeff Asay, "Track and Time:An Operational History of the Western Pacific Railroad", 2006, Feather River Rail Society.
  28. ↑ Statesman-Journal Time Capsule: Del Monte Cannery. December 15, 2013 Salem Statesman Journal. The first building at the site was built in 1890; a new building was built in 1918. By 1930's, it was a major green bean producer for Del Monte. The plant was expanded in 1971, but closed in 1981.
  29. ↑ www.salemhistory.net:Salem Canneries
  30. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  31. ↑ FoundSF: FoundSF: started as peach cannery and merged into California Fruit Canners Association
  32. ↑ [Rod Hadeland]
  33. ↑ Michael R. Corbett, Port City: The History and Transformation of the Port of San Francisco, 1848-2010. 2012, San Francisco Architectural Heritage
  34. ↑ Harwood Hall, "Eden Township: Its Agriculture", Hayward Area Historical Society, 1997, p. 163, from Del Monte publication.
  35. ↑ Patronize our advertisers: January 23, 1922 San Jose Evening News.
  36. ↑ Mentioned in want ads in May 22, 1919 San Jose Evening News
  37. ↑ Advertisements in May 22, 1919 San Jose Evening News
  38. ↑ Advertisement: Wanted a Few Good Packing House Men. In September 19, 1919 San Jose Evening News. "Plant 51, San Fernando and Bush Street".
  39. ↑ Appears in 1931 Southern Pacific 1931 Siding List
  40. ↑ List of manufacturing businesses in Santa Clara County, Vocational Education memo, 1972.
  41. ↑ Southern Pacific. Ruric: Additional Trackage for California Packing Corporation. Western Division drawing R172. Feb. 1926. In collection of California State Railroad Museum.
  42. ↑ Obituary: John R. Silveira. In February 5, 1977 Fremont Argus. "A supervisor for 45 years at the Del Monte Corporation Seed Farm #185 in San Jose."
  43. ↑ findagrave.com: obituary for Marie Fernandes
  44. ↑ Herman Schultheis, Photo of end of plant, , Los Angeles Public Library
  45. ↑ Packing Houses of Southern California], Santa Ana page.
  46. ↑ July 1922 price list in Western Canner and Packer
  47. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  48. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  49. ↑ Lawsuit in 1977 said that Del Monte had warehouses for canned goods out there, and they needed the space to hold the production from the Emeryville and San Jose canneries in the 1970's - there wasn't enough space locally.
  50. ↑ December 1922 Western Canner and Packer notes it'll reopen on March 1. In 1922, canned 125,000 cases of spinach, 200,000 cases of cling peaches, and 110,000 cases of tomatoes.
  51. ↑ Served by Western Pacific. Western Pacific Training Manual, Stockton Yard: Scotts St. to El Pinal Track Diagram. In Jeff Asay, "Track and Time: An Operational History of the Western Pacific Railroad". 2006, Feather River Rail Society.
  52. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  53. ↑ 1922 Western Canner and Packer: "Not operating this season"
  54. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
  55. ↑ Western Food Plants Get High Honor. February 5, 1944 Radio Round Up On Food.
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