Lusk Cannery c1885

Description:
Josiah Lusk Cannery dormitory (one-story building, lower right), Claremont Avenue near Clifton Street (looking wes), Temescal district, Oakland, Calif. The photograph likely was taken from one of the Lusk Cannery buildings on the east side of Claremont Avenue, near the corner of Claremont Avenue and Clifton Street. The large, one story building at the lower right was likely the women s dormitory that the Lusk Cannery provided for employees. The main cannery was located on the east side of Claremont Avenue, and operated at that site from 1877 until 1888.

Date of Document:
circa 1885

Document Author:
Unknown

Geographic Location:
Claremont Avenue and Clifton Street, Oakland, Calif.

Context:
Josiah Lusk had been raising fruits and vegetables for the fresh produce market when he started a small cannery in 1868, originally located on 40th Street several blocks west of Telegraph Avenue [near where Lusk Street is today]. After moving to the Claremont Avenue site [in 1877], the plant became the largest cannery west of the Mississippi River. All the cans were manufactured by Lusk using tin shipped from Europe. In addition to cannery buildings, the property included a women s dormitory of twenty-five rooms with four beds each, and a ladies dining room. An Italian gardener supplied fresh vegetables to the women from the company s garden. The women s room and board cost 35 cents a day. About 800 people were employed here in the 1887 season, including several hundred Chinese immigrants and some children. Lusk took William Coleman on as partner in 1881, but Coleman suffered financial reversals, and the cannery closed in 1888. The property was sold at auction to a syndicate and broken up into pieces. [Jennifer Dowling note]