Tin, Sweat, and Survival: African Americans in the Canning Industry on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore
- Snow Hill African American Heritage Society
- Apr 13
- 3 min read
Early 20th Century History of Canning in Maryland
Canning in Maryland started in 1849 and became prominent in 1880. Baltimore City was the leader in the commercial canning industry, which canned oysters, fruits, and vegetables. Tin cans became common and low-cost in the 1880s, replacing the more expensive and less efficient glass containers, enabling food to be processed on a greater scale (Burton, 1986).
20th Century History: Canneries on the Eastern Shore
On the Eastern Shore, the first cannery plant was established in Princess Anne in 1887, followed by a tomato plant in Snow Hill. Although records do not specify when the first cannery was established in Worcester County, it is believed to have been in Snow Hill in the early 1890s. The Snow Hill plant, known as R.F. Ayars and Ayars Canning Company, was founded in 1889. R.F. Ayars operated a cannery in Snow Hill by 1895 (Burton, 1986). In 1935, Walter T. Only opened a cannery in Snow Hill, which specialized in canning peas, lima beans, and tomatoes.
Development of Canneries in Pocomoke
In 1885, Clogg and Polk operated a cannery in Pocomoke. By 20th Century, the first three canneries in history of thee Lower Shore were in operation: The Pocomoke Packing Company, the H.F. Hemingway Company, and a Baltimore company with branches on the Eastern Shore, along with the Adkins and Lytle Company. The Somerset Packing Company provided many locals with full-time jobs from the late 1800s to the early 2000s, processing tomatoes harvested from nearby farms. The factories were strategically located near railroads or the Pocomoke River for efficient shipping to other areas of the United States via trains or steamboats. In 1925, the Mason Canning Company established a second cannery in Pocomoke as a result of a successful operation in Newark. The Mason Cannery, operated by brothers John and Kenneth Mason, was a substantial factory with excellent equipment, primarily canning potatoes and tomatoes (Burton, 1986).
Berlin and the Phillips Canning Company
Berlin was an early canning area, with the Seaside Canning Company established in 1900. In 1906, J. Richard Phillips built a canning factory with Levin E. Derickson. By 1916, Phillips constructed a new cannery named the Phillips Canning Company in Berlin, employing over 180 people, with tomatoes as the main product (Taylor, 2007).
Generational Legacy of the Phillips Family
The Phillips family operated a canning factory for three generations, canning tomatoes, lima beans, and string beans. The plant served as a workplace for many African Americans and continued operations until the 1970s (Burton, 1986).
Expansion of Canneries in the Region
By 1900, canneries were established in Newark, Box Iron, Stockton, Girdletree, Bishopville, and Whaleyville. John and Joseph Archer began canning in Newark and Girdletree in 1904 and 1908, respectively, with additional operations in Ironshire during the same period. Wicomico County also had a rich history in canning, with the first cannery opening in 1889 and a peak of 37 operating canneries in 1919. Dorchester County had a long-standing reputation for packing more cases of tomatoes than any other county on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, with Phillips Canning House being the largest employer in Dorchester County (Intern, Walters, 2017). Source
Labor Practices and Decline of the Industry
After the Civil War, tokens or merchant tokens were commonly used to pay laborers upon the completion of a full bucket of produce on the Eastern Shore. At its peak, the Delmarva canning industry provided 15,000 jobs, with a daily pay rate of $5.00. Workers, including African American farmers, transported their baskets of tomatoes to canneries for cash.
However, canneries across the region began to decline in the 1950s due to competition from warmer states with longer growing seasons.
Sources
Picture Credits: Lennord Cannery www.rawpixel.com
Arcadia
Burton, R. Lee {1986). Canneries of the Eastern Shore. Centreville: Maryland, Tidewater
Publishers.
Dorchester County Historical Society
Intern, W. (2017). Made in Maryland: The Philips Packing and Seafood Canning. Preservation Maryland.
Taylor, Susan. (2007). Berlin. Arcadia Publishing,
Delmarva’s Late Great Tomato Canneries. Shore Home and Garden Magazine. Sept. 1, 2023
Written by: Maria Blake
March 24, 2025
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