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Watertown Canning Co

Pea Canning

Established 1913

720 O’Connell Street

Foot of O'Connell Street, along the Chicago & Northwestern railroad track

 

The Watertown Canning Factory, located at the foot of O'Connell Street, along the Chicago & Northwestern railroad track, closed in about 1956.  The factory and machinery was put up for sale and the building went through many different owners after that, none of them concerned with the canning business. 

 

The last owner of the property was the City of Watertown and currently it is the headquarters for the disposal of waste materials and recyclables.

 

1900

09 21       INSPECTION OF NEIGHBORING PLANTS

Last Friday M. J. Woodard and Wm. Buchetit inspected the canning factory at Sun Prairie, and on Tuesday another delegation went from here to look it over, the object being the establishing of a similar enterprise here, the Watertown Advancement Association now having the matter under consideration.  A [pea canning] factory of that kind would be a great benefit to our city, and would prove a good investment for those putting the money into it.

 

1916

03-17       BOUGHT CORN CANNING PLANT

The Watertown Canning Company has purchased the corn canning plant at Plainview, Minn.  The plant will be operated at Plainview for the canning of corn, the present season, but will be enlarged next year to can peas as well as corn.

 

c.1917

             

 

1921

 

The Watertown Canning Company, the only factory of its kind in Watertown, is located in the western part of the city on the C & NW Railway, just north of the depot. 

 

The plant consists of five distinct buildings including the main brick building of two floors with offices on the first floor, and one frame building which is used for storing and shipping.  The remaining buildings consist of the factory, which is three stories high, a brick power house, a veneer shed, and a large silo.

 

The entire factory building is well equipped with the latest machinery operated by electric power and is illuminated by electric lights from its own dynamo; the steam process is used in canning.

 

During the canning season, a force of two hundred and fifty hands is employed. 

 

The peas handled are grown partly on the Company's own lands and partly by farmers in the vicinity.  The entire crop from one thousand acres is canned.  The peas are hermetically sealed in tins, and packed in cases holding twenty-four cans each. 

 

The product is sold under eight different brands i.e. "Watertown," "Grill Room," "Rickwood," "Excellence," "Waterfall," "West Road," "Personal," and "Canteen." 

 

The annual capacity of the factory is one hundred thousand cases or two million four hundred thousand cans.

 

The goods are supplied direct to wholesale groceries and jobbers in the large cities throughout the country, and are shipped in car lots as far east as Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Albany and Pittsburgh; also to Cincinnati, Hamilton, Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio; as far west as Omaha and Kansas City; as far south as Texas, Knoxville, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo.  The goods are handled by brokers of large cities, and mail orders are constantly being received from all parts of the country.

 

The Watertown Canning Company was established and incorporated in 1913.  The capital stock of the company is $160,000.  The officers are: H. Wertheimer, President; A. B. Liebermann, Vice-President; G. M. Gahlman, Treasurer, and O. C. Wertheimer, Secretary; W. X. Siebert, Manager.

 

In addition to the business in Watertown, this company has a modern corn canning factory at Plainview, Minn., which is devoted to canning corn exclusively.  It employs one hundred and twenty-five hands and has a large capacity and output.  The business at Plainview, one of the principal corn canning factories in that section, is under the same management as the factory at Watertown.

 

- Watertown High School Orbit, 1921

 

1940s

DISTANT VIEW OF

  

 

1950

08 01       PEA VINERY STACK SPRAYED

  

Sprayed with new deodorant in attempt to reduce smell.  Replaced combination of kerosene and lime used previously.

 

c.1950

Long shot of a building

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Cross Reference:

Edwin Faber, Sr., was treasurer

 

 

 

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