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NATIONAL CAN COMPANY

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c. 1880; c. 1900; 1934–1939 renovated. 801 S. Wolfe St.
  • (Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie)

This Art Deco cannery, rehabilitated as apartments, reflects the important role that Baltimore played during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the center of the canning industry in America, and in the 1930s as the can-making center of the world. Its dominance is attributed to Baltimore’s extensive transportation network combined with ready access to Maryland’s produce and fishing industries. Factories in Fell’s Point, Canton, and southeast Baltimore manufactured both cans and canned foodstuff. The National Can Company encompasses two buildings erected for the oyster-packing industry, now set behind a modern facade. Can making began here in 1909 with the John Boyle Can Company. Purchased by the Metal Package Corporation in 1920, the company focused exclusively on the production of cans and decorative metal containers. It was acquired by National Can Company in 1935, and the plant was refurbished to include the current Art Deco facade, one of Baltimore’s few such industrial buildings.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie
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Data

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Citation

Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie, "NATIONAL CAN COMPANY", [Baltimore, Maryland], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MD-01-BC75.

Print Source

Buildings of Maryland, Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, 197-197.

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