website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
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
Cross
Reference:
Edwin Faber,
Sr., was treasurer
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin