
Cannery Row is the waterfront
street
A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of d ...
bordering the city of Pacific Grove, but officially in the New Monterey section of
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
. It was the site of a number of now-defunct
sardine
"Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the ...
canning factories. The last cannery closed in 1973. The street name, formerly a nickname for Ocean View Avenue, became official in January 1958 to honor
John Steinbeck and his novel ''
Cannery Row''.
[Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau: Cannery Row](_blank)
/ref> In the novel's opening sentence, Steinbeck described the street as "a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream."
History
Cannery Row was the setting of John Steinbeck's novels '' Cannery Row'' (1945) and ''Sweet Thursday
''Sweet Thursday'' is a 1954 novel by John Steinbeck. It is a sequel to '' Cannery Row'' and set in the years after the end of World War II. According to Steinbeck, "Sweet Thursday" is the day between Lousy Wednesday and Waiting Friday.
Plot s ...
'' (1954). Both were the basis for the 1982 movie '' Cannery Row'', starring Nick Nolte
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film '' The Prince of Tides''. He received ...
and Debra Winger
Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...
. It is also mentioned in Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's song "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
"Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" is a song by American singer-singwriter Bob Dylan. First released as the closing track on Dylan's 1966 album ''Blonde on Blonde'', the song lasts 11 minutes and 22 seconds, occupying the entire side four of the doub ...
".
Pacific Biological Laboratories, a biological supply house, was located at 800 Ocean View Avenue (now 800 Cannery Row) from 1928 to 1948, and operated by Edward F. Ricketts, who was the inspiration for several characters in Steinbeck novels. The laboratory is still preserved. Across from the laboratory still exists a Chinese-American-owned store mentioned in both '' Cannery Row'' and ''Sweet Thursday
''Sweet Thursday'' is a 1954 novel by John Steinbeck. It is a sequel to '' Cannery Row'' and set in the years after the end of World War II. According to Steinbeck, "Sweet Thursday" is the day between Lousy Wednesday and Waiting Friday.
Plot s ...
'', as well as a vacant lot that was the "home" of some of the homeless characters in the novel. The former reflects Chinese American history in the area, starting with Chinese immigrants who entered the fishing industry, exporting seafood and abalone shells to China, Europe, and other parts of the U.S. At 851 Cannery Row, across from Pacific Biological Laboratories, is the original building that inspired the bar from the novel named La Ida Cafe.
Cannery Row was adjoined by a grand mansion owned by Montana mining tycoon James A. Murray. Known as "Casa de las Olas" or the Murray Hacienda, the mansion was demolished in the 1940s to make way for the expansion of more canneries. A historical marker is located on the site of the former mansion. The canneries failed after the collapse of the fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...
industry in Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica ...
in the mid-1950s, which resulted from a combination of factors, including unfavorable oceanic conditions, overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in the ...
, and competition from other species. In his investigation of where the sardines had gone, Ed Ricketts finally concluded "They're in cans." Before the collapse, the fishery was one of the most productive in the world due to the upwelling
Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water from deep water towards the ocean surface. It replaces the warmer and usually nutrient-depleted surface water. The nut ...
of cold yet nutrient
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excr ...
-rich water along the California coastline.
200px, Old Hovden Cannery steam boilers
Today
Today the area offshore from Cannery Row is the Edward F. Ricketts State Marine Conservation Area
Edward F. Ricketts State Marine Conservation Area is one of four small marine protected areas located near the cities of Monterey and Pacific Grove, at the southern end of Monterey Bay on California’s central coast. The four areas together enco ...
(part of the larger Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) is a federally protected marine area offshore of California's Big Sur and central coast in the United States. It is the largest US national marine sanctuary and has a shoreline length of s ...
) and is home to a large resurgent population of California sea lion
The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...
s.
Cannery Row itself is now a tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
with many restaurants and hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
s, several of which are located in former cannery buildings, and a few historic attractions. Some privately owned fishing companies still exist on Cannery Row, housed on pier
Seaside pleasure pier in England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out ...
s located a short distance from the historic district frequented by tourists.
In recent years, Cannery Row has become increasingly popular among sport fishermen due to extensive public fishing facilities. MacAbee Beach and San Carlos Beach, which bookend Cannery Row are both popular spots for kayak-launching; San Carlos Beach is one of Monterey Bay's most popular scuba-diving spots.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California, Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest w ...
(opened in 1984) is located at the north end of Cannery Row, at the former site of the major Hovden Cannery
The Hovden Cannery in Cannery Row, Monterey, California was among the oldest, largest canneries of the Pacific Sardine Fishery. In the first half of the 20th century, it marked one of the most lucrative national fisheries. It was a source for ...
. Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
immigrant Knut Hovden founded Hovden Food Products Corporation which opened on July 7, 1916. By canning squid at the end of its life, Hovden Cannery managed to outlast its neighbors, finally closing its doors in 1973 when it became the last cannery on the row to close. In November, 2021 it is announced that Cannery Row will open 'Cannery Row: Treasure Hunt' - a pirate themed ride - in 2022.
See also
* John Steinbeck
*Ed Ricketts
Edward Flanders Robb Ricketts (May 14, 1897 – May 11, 1948) was an American marine biologist, ecologist, and philosopher. He is best known for ''Between Pacific Tides'' (1939), a pioneering study of intertidal ecology. He is also known as a me ...
* Bruce Ariss
* List of canneries
This is a list of canneries. A cannery is involved in the processes of canning, a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container.
Canneries
United States
* Bush Brothers Cannery - Chest ...
*Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California, Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest w ...
References
Further reading
*
NPR's Morning Edition: ''Ed Ricketts and the 'Dream' of Cannery Row''
*''The Stevenson Plan, A Novel of the Monterey Peninsula'' (M. Bryce Ternet, 2013)
External links
Cannery Row
The Cannery Row Foundation
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050805084439/http://www.monterey.org/museum/canneryrow/steinbeck.html City of Monterey's Cannery Row Walking Tour
{{Authority control
Seafood canneries
Neighborhoods in Monterey, California
Monterey Bay
History of Monterey County, California
History of the Monterey Bay Area
Landmarks in California
Tourist attractions in Monterey, California