Congrats to Tntcarroll for FTF!
The Hunt Foods Water Tower History:
The Hunt Foods Water Tower has served as a symbol for both
“The Pickle Works” and Hunt Foods, both mainstays of
the City’s economy, for many years. According to aerial
photography and personal interviews, the Tower was moved from
“The Pickle Works,” north of A Street, to its current
location sometime during the latter portion of the 1950s. The Tower
has become a landmark for the City as a whole, being visible from
many vantage points in and around the central portion of Hayward.
Designation of the Tower as an historic structure would formalize
the City’s intent to maintain this structure as a landmark
regardless of the impending land use changes in the Cannery area.
The City pursued authority from the property owners to have the
City logo painted on the Tower.
Hunt-Wesson Foods Canneries History:
For almost a century, Hunt’s Cannery was Hayward’s
leading industry.
In 1859, 8 years after William Hayward set up his general store
at the corner of A Street & Main Street, “The Pickle
Works” was started. By 1930, the brand name was changed to
California Home Brand and it found expanded business in pickles.
catsup, tomato juice and various condiments, Joseph & William
Hunt opened their original cannery at A Street & Santa Clara
Street in 1898 when they moved their canning operation from Santa
Rosa to Hayward because this area had hundreds of fruit orchards
and agricultural fields. The plant offered its workers decent
wages, a place to stay, and education for their children. In 1900,
the cannery expanded with a New can factory. The number of
employees increased to 700 per year. But. in April 1901, the
cannery burned to the ground.
Niles and other communities invited the cannery to rebuild in
their towns. However, the Hayward Board of Trade, convinced Hunt to
stay in Hayward. Despite being in total ruins two months prior to
the canning season. the cannery was able to process all the fruit
it could get during the season. The end of 1901 found Hunt
can-making plant back in full operation.
In 1943, Hunt’s merged with Val Vita Food products of
Fullerton. In 1943, the total pack was 2 million cases, valued at
$10 million. For years, Hunt’s Hayward and California Home
Brand faced each other from opposite sides of A Street, but in
1945. the “Pickle Works” merged with Hunt. The company
began to concentrate on its own brand and its new slogan:
“Hunt - for the best.” In 1954, the pack was 15 million
cases, valued at $70 million. The company now owned 6 canneries on
the Pacific Coast, and one each in Ohio, New Jersey and New York.
Hunt's ranked 1st in the United States in sales of tomato sauce,
2nd as a packer of yellow cling peaches, and 3rd as a packer of
tomato catsup. At this time, 50 percent of the total pack of Hunt
Foods was in Hayward. By 1961, the Hayward plant was not only the
largest member of Hunt’s food manufacturing family, but was
the largest fruit and vegetable canning facility in the world
capable of handling 12 million pounds of tomatoes a day by nearly
5,000 employees. Hunt Foods grew to 140th from the top of the
nation’s 500 leading industries by 1963. At its peak, Hunt
Foods consisted of an industrial complex of 90 acres that stretched
for a 1 1/2 miles along the Southern Pacific Railroad. The plant
buildings occupied more than 1 million square Feet of space, equal
to 50 football fields. Taxes on this property in 1963 made up more
than one-sixth of Hayward’s total property tax income. Hunt
eventually merged with the Wesson packing company, and the plant
began closing down in 1978 after the fruit orchards had been
replaced with homes and the tomato processing operations were moved
closer to the source in Oakdale. The United Can plant remained in
Hayward, employing 200 full-time and 1.300 seasonal workers. Other
portions of the Hunt plant were transformed into warehouse space,
Cannery Park, and the Price Club/Costco store. United Can announced
its closing in May 1996, allowing Hunt Foods to build a container
plant in Tennessee.